You're Still You
by Candyland
Summary: [COMPLETE] VERY DARK! Something terrible happened to Videl... Angst warning, mild OOC. Reader discretion advised.
1. Into the Darkness

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AN: I had a request for another major angst-fest of a story, and it's company policy at Candyland Inc. to not disappoint the readers. So…here you go. I don't know how this is going to come out, and I also haven't decided yet if there will be closure at the end. You'll see what I mean when/if you read it. As with "A Price Paid in Blood," reader discretion is strongly advised, as this is once again some strong subject matter. The title song for this story is "You're Still You" by Josh Groban. I don't own the song or DBZ. Just my poor lil' plot line.

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Chapter One—Into the Darkness

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Through the darkness, I can see your light

And you will always shine

And I can feel your heart in mine

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The servants that were employed at the mansion stepped back to make way for their employer's daughter. They could tell from the expression on her face and the look in her eyes that this was not a good time to cross her or get in her way. And they were right.

Her eyes were narrowed and her jaw was set as she strolled through the hallways of her home. It wasn't totally uncommon to see her angry, but there was something about the way she walked and looked that said this was something major.

Which was exactly what she wanted. She had become very good at making people think what she wanted them to think about certain things. And schooling her face and her emotions was only a part of her skill. She'd made certain that she looked her absolute angriest before heading up from her father's dojo towards her room. Nobody messed with her when she was angry.

Had she let her true emotions broadcast themselves on her face, the look would have been more preoccupied than pissed. Her intuition had been screaming at her all day, warning her with proverbial red flags and flashing lights that something was going to happen. Something terrible.

It had started that morning, right when she'd woken up. Her gut had been in a knot, and nothing could settle her stomach. Since it was a Saturday, she spent most of her day in the dojo, beating out her frustration on a good old punching bag, which was now a pile of sand and cloth on the floor. Naturally, she'd left the mess for one of her father's students to clean up. Sadly, her attempts at making the bad feeling go away hadn't done much, except leave her sweat-drenched and out of breath.

She made her way up the stairs, scowling to hide internal worry. What was wrong? What could possibly happen? Nothing, that was what. She was one of the best fighters she knew—outside of Gohan and his friends, of course. But then again, they could hardly be considered normal. Half of them weren't even human to begin with. If anything happened to her, she could fight her way out of it. And if something happened to one of her friends, she would get to the bottom of it no matter what.

Yes, that was it. It was nothing she couldn't handle. As her bedroom came into view, she managed to somewhat rationalize the insane sense of foreboding that had been eating at her all day.

Pushing open the door, she barged into her room, not even bothering t shut the door. Once safely inside let her façade of anger drop. Outside the large window on the other side of the room, she could see that the sun was sinking lower in the sky. It would be night in about an hour, maybe.

Her intuition screeched at her, but she ignored it. Why on Earth should she listen to something that was in all probability wrong?

A creak of the floor behind her was the only warning she had.

The feeling of wrongness peaked.

Her bedroom door slammed shut behind her.

She wasn't even sure what happened. Whoever it was moved fast—she didn't even have time to spin around before an arm had encircled her neck. She tried desperately to summon up a scream, but her voice didn't seem to want to work. A hand clamped down hard over her mouth.

A hand holding something. A rag or a handkerchief or something. Whatever it was, it smelled of something vaguely familiar, something she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Instinct kicked in, and she tried to put her self-defense training to use, but whoever was standing behind her obviously knew all the moves of martial arts training, and somehow evaded what she was doing. A deep chuckle reached her ears, as if the person—obviously male from the timbre of the voice, a fact which made her more determined to get away—was dryly amused by her "antics."

A haze descended over her mind, and her arms and legs suddenly felt very, very heavy. Like she was trying to walk through water with heavy weights tied to her limbs. It was getting more and more difficult to move and to think.

Finally, something in her fog-clouded mind clicked, and she recognized the smell from the rag that was still pressed over her mouth.

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Chloroform… she realized, recognizing the scent from things she had encountered during her years of working in conjunction with the police. That was the last thing she remembered before the mist completely enveloped her mind, and she felt herself fall.

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How…long…asleep… she wondered sleepily. She'd managed to wrestle herself back to semi-consciousness, but it had not been easy. Why was it so hard to wake up? She wasn't what could be considered a heavy sleeper.

Images danced unbidden through her mind, which was still quite fogged over. And then she remembered—coming into her room, the door slamming shut behind her, and the smell of chloroform before the word faded to nothing.

She'd been attacked. So where was she now?

Somewhere…soft…it took her a minute to recognize the familiar feel of her own comforter. So she was in her own bed? If she'd been drugged and passed out on the floor, how had she gotten into her bed? To a mind that was still laden with a heavy drug-haze, it didn't make sense.

But she was just barely conscious enough to feel a rough, callused hand running over her bare shoulder…bare? Why was her shoulder bare? How odd…

That hand then proceeded to pull her upwards, forcing her into a sitting position. She didn't have enough control over herself to resist, and let herself be pulled upward. Once she was sitting up, the hand released her, and she managed to exert an iron will and maintain an upright position.

But why? Who was there? No one she knew. It was amazing how much her mind was picking up in spite of the drugging. Gohan had taught her a little bit about sensing and identifying people by their ki alone, and she was unconsciously using that training to try and identify whoever was in that room with her. And it was definitely nobody she recognized.

It was only after she'd been sitting upright for a few seconds that she became aware of an acute pain in her whole body. It hurt like hell—it reminded her vaguely of that once, when she'd been shot three times—or was it four? Sometimes she couldn't quite remember. That had hurt, but this was easily ten times worse than that. Why did she hurt so much?

Nearby, she could hear someone chanting in a deep voice. She didn't understand the words, though. Were they in another language? Or was her mind just that screwed up?

But she didn't have time to think about it anymore. No, there was something else now.

Something hard and heavy crashed into the back of her head. It felt like her skull was being split open. She started to tumble forward, and whatever weapon was being wielded against her collided with her head for a second time. This time, she was sent flying off the bed; her feet got caught in a sheet that was hanging partially off the edge of the bed, and she ended up tangled in it as she fell.

She ended up in a heap on the floor, with the long sheet wrapped around her like a death shroud from the old days. Her ears managed to catch someone chanting something again, in those bizarre words that she couldn't make out. Then there was the sound of her window opening, and the presence was gone, having most likely gone out onto her balcony and escaped from there. She imagined that whoever it was had climbed down the trees and into the yard, just like she had done so many times when she was young and wanted to go outside at night.

Strange…why was she seeing so many images? Things she had forgotten, things she didn't really want to remember, and things she just hadn't thought about in years. What was going on?

Then the images vanished, and she plummeted down, away from the pain and the feeling of blood pooling around, into the darkness, into a cool, soothing place where she was free from pain or thought. Into a place where she was safe from whoever had hurt her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Humming to herself, Hannah meandered up the stairs. She'd noticed that her employer's daughter was upset—or rather, _pretending_ to be upset—about something, and wanted to see if she could coaxed the teenager into talking about it. The two had been too close for too long for Hannah to be fooled by the teenager's pretenses.

The lady of the house had died many years ago, and Hannah's husband had been gone for even longer. Thus, a deep friendship had eventually been forged between Hannah and her employer's daughter. She'd watched that girl grow up, read her bedtime stories, and listened to her problems and woes as she grew from child to adolescent to young adult. The two were as close as ever, more like mother or grandmother and daughter than friends.

So when her young friend had started acting strangely earlier that day, old Hannah had taken it upon herself to find out the cause of the problem. That was why she was on this trek to the teenager's room.

Hannah paused outside the door to catch her breath. Considering her advancing age, getting up all those stairs was getting to be more and more of a challenge. Once she was breathing normally, she knocked on the door, knowing that an uninvited entry would be much less than welcome.

For some reason, she was more than a little concerned, and not just with the teenager's behavior. A short while ago, she'd had a strange feeling of…well, foreboding was the best word she could come up with. And it was centered entirely on her young friend. But she'd shaken it off, and this trip upstairs was as much to convince herself that nothing was wrong as to find out what was up.

When she knocked, she'd expected an irate voice to come through the door and deliver a scathing reprimand to whoever dared disturb the solitude of the angry teenager. But she heard no verbal response, per se. Normally, she would have walked away, assuming the girl to be asleep or listening to a headset or some such teenage activity. But something made her take a closer look.

Sure enough, when Hannah pressed her ear to the door, she could hear a very faint groaning, like someone was in mortal pain. That was more than enough for Hannah, and she pushed the door open.

There, on the floor, was Videl.

She was crumpled in an untidy heap on the floor, tangled in what looked like a bedsheet. And, most chillingly of all, the carpet around her was literally saturated with Videl's own blood. She was groaning, almost inaudibly; had Hannah not been able to hear that soft groaning, she would have instantly assumed that the girl was dead.

Secure in the knowledge that Videl was alive for the moment and paralyzed with shock and fear, Hannah did the only thing she really could at that moment.

She screamed her head off.

Once the initial shock had worn off and she found she could move again, Hannah darted forward and fell to her knees beside Videl's lifeless body, ignoring the fact that her uniform was now blood-soaked. For lack of anything else she could do, she gently shook Videl's shoulders and repeatedly called out the teenager's name, all while fighting desperately to keep the hysteria and panic from taking control and making her lose all coherency.

As other members of the household came running to see what Hannah was screaming about, Videl's eyelids fluttered, just a tiny bit. She looked at Hannah through eyes that were barely opened, and moved her lips ever so slightly, as if she was trying to say something that just wouldn't come through. In the end, it was a futile attempt, and her eyes fell closed; her head lulled to the side as the girl passed back into the realm of unconsciousness.

Others were flooding into the room now, and each was equally as horrified as Hannah had been. Someone managed to take control of the chaos, though; orders started being given, and people started flying to obey them. One person was sent to very quickly summon an ambulance and the police; someone else attended to the hysterical Hannah; a few people ran outside to see if there was anyone around.

In all of the chaos, it wasn't until a short time later that someone found what could have quite possibly been the first clue, lying on the carpet of Videl's bedroom.

A blood-stained hammer.

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AN: Flames are welcome—but be warned, I refuse to listen to a flamer who doesn't have the nerve to leave me an email addy. That's just cowardly. Sorry, but it's a major pet peeve of mine. Okay, so anyway, this is the first chapter of my latest story. I should have the next chappie up shortly, and I hope you'll come back around to my little corner of ff.net to read it. Thanks!

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Candyland's Fic Pick:

I really think most of you would enjoy my good buddy Fred's latest endeavor in the fanfiction world. So, as the Supreme Overlord of all Sporkdom, I command you to read **The Adventures of the Incredible Fighting Candy **by _Fred the Mutant Pickle._ What if Vegetto had gotten changed into the jawbreaker, and then Majin Buu was somehow destroyed before our favorite fusion could be turned back into his normal form? Join Vegetto-the-Jawbreaker as he tries to find a way to get back to normal and get home. Fred only has one chapter done, but it looks like it's gonna be great once it gets going.


	2. Tell Me the Secret

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AN: Gohan/Videl4Ever, yes, this is from your request for another angsty thing. Like I said, I take requests. And actually, I've kind of been entertaining this notion for a while; I just needed a little push to get me to sit down and write it. So on we go. BTW, I have an outline written up for this, and from the way I have it set up, chances are that it's not going to be nearly as many chapters as APPIB was, but the chapters are going to be a whole lot longer. Is that a fair trade? I hope so. So on we go.

I don't own DBZ, just this plotline. It's all mine, you hear me! MINE!

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Chapter Two—Tell Me the Secrets\

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Your face I've memorized

I idolize

Just you

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"For Kami's sake, Vegeta, can you act like a civilized person for more than five seconds at a time?" Bulma asked in exasperation, and was rewarded with Vegeta's reply—he snorted and rolled his eyes in the true Vegeta manner.

It had taken quite a bit of time, pleading, and threatening to get her boys out of the house. It had been a beautiful day, a day that was sinking into evening, and from there floating into twilight. Bulma was determined to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and go out for a nice walk. Unfortunately, her mate and son weren't quite as receptive to the idea as she would have liked, but in the end they had come to see things _her_ way. Of course, she'd had to threaten their food supply in order to change their views, but that was all right. This was definitely a case where the ends justified the means.

Vegeta, however, was not happy, and since he'd been dragged unwilling on this little "family outing," as the damn woman called it, he was determined to make it as unpleasant an experience for her as was physically possible. Experience had proven that if she got angry enough, chances were that she wouldn't try to make him do it again. Of course, she might not fix the gravity room again if something were to *ahem* happen to it, but that was a small price to pay. He could just go beat the crap out of…ah, _spar_ with Kakarott's oldest brat instead.

Miraculously, Trunks had managed to stay relatively neutral since the family had embarked on this outing. He'd only protested it because his father had. Even though the child would never admit it, he didn't think it was that bad.

Rolling her eyes at the attitudes of the two males in her life, Bulma happened to glance down a street they were passing and stopped. "Hey…isn't that where Videl lives?"

The two Saiyans paused also and followed Bulma's gaze towards an enormous mansion a short distance away, down the street. Several police cars were parked out in front, and the place was absolutely swarming with people, like bees buzzing angrily around the hive. Why were the police there?

"Hmm…" Bulma muttered, then made her decision. "…we're gonna check this out."

Somewhat to her surprise, both Vegeta and Trunks agreed. Finally, something interesting!

Once they got to the edge of the crowd, Vegeta fell back a little, and remained outside the huddle of officers and detectives while Bulma pushed through. She had Trunks with her, so he didn't have to worry about the brat following him and making trouble. Silently and stealthily, Vegeta slipped away and took off. Call it a gut instinct, but he had to check it out to be sure. He was going to do a little investigating on his own, even if it was a tad bit illegal. Human laws didn't concern him anyway.

Bulma noticed that Vegeta was gone, but didn't worry about it. He was a law unto himself. Instead, she focused on the officer who seemed to be in charge of whatever chaotic operation seemed to be in action at the Satan mansion. And she wasn't at all polite about it—she pushed right through the crowd and strolled straight up to the man. "What's going on here?" she demanded, using every trick she'd ever learned for frightening people. One didn't have a successful career in business without knowing how to get information out of people, be it with words or more subtle techniques, such as intimidation.

The officer looked at her, then back down at his notebook; apparently he didn't recognize her, and was dismissing her as unimportant. "Investigation, lady. Classified."

Bulma smirked, half in anger and half in glee. It was time to beak out the heavy artillery. She was fortunate enough to have a few weapons at her disposal—namely, an enormous vocabulary, and a powerful set of lungs with which to shout said vocabulary.

And her reputation and influence didn't hurt either. Since this guy didn't seem to realize exactly who he was dealing with, she would have to remind him—loudly.

Taking a deep breath, Bulma launched into a tirade that left her son, who was standing beside her, wide-eyed with admiration for his mother. A part of what she was doing undoubtedly stemmed from her frustration with the two males in her life, and she was simply venting at an available source. But now Trunks could remember why he didn't argue with his mother very often. Actually, now he realized why almost no one would argue with his mother—she was just plain scary!

Oh yes—Bulma Briefs had the bit in her teeth, and she was off. And while she was terrorizing the hapless police officers in her quest to find out what was happening in the Satan household that would have the place in such an uproar, Vegeta was still off on a little investigation of his own.

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Finally, Vegeta thought as the two officers finally walked out of the room, carrying a few plastic bags that were marked "Evidence." The room was completely empty now.

He'd had a strange feeling that whatever was going on involved Videl, and not in a good way, and that instinct troubled him somewhat. Though he would keep it behind his teeth even under torture, he had a small amount of respect for the human. She was tough, smart, courageous, and confident—all prized traits in Saiyan society.

It hadn't been difficult to find her room; he'd simply found her scent. The detectives and police officers scouring the room had confirmed his guess that whatever was happening did indeed concern Videl. Once he'd found the place he was looking for, it was simply a matter of waiting for the place to clear out. And when he absolutely had to be, Vegeta could be quite patient. But only when he absolutely had to be.

With the room empty, he could find out what he needed to. He couldn't sense anyone nearby except for those who had just left, and they were moving away from the room. So without another moment of hesitation, Vegeta floated into the room. He did not touch down on the carpet, but remained hovering about two feet above the ground; he pulled his legs up under him and closed his eyes in a position not unlike the Namek's trademark meditation stance. He reached with his mind, trying to pull out what he wanted to know from the aura of the room and the energy overtones that remained there.

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Tell me the secret, he almost implored, asking the very walls themselves to surrender what they knew, to reveal what they had witnessed. And after only a moment of prodding the room itself, it gave way to him, and told him everything, so to speak.

Based solely on what his mind and senses were telling him, a very clear picture formed in his head, and began to play. It was almost like a movie in his mind. He watched, and definitely did NOT like was he was seeing. So that was what had happened in this room. It explained a lot.

Satisfied, he pulled back into himself and sensed for presence's. Sure enough, there were a few people, perhaps three or four, heading back towards the room. Which meant that he'd better leave.

After descending to the lawn below the balcony, the Saiyan managed to sneak back around to the front without being seen. There, he found a sight that quite amused him.

Bulma had managed to terrorize nearly the entire police force there; they were cowering in front of her, and answering every question she asked. But Vegeta could tell by her face that she was horrified at the information she was suddenly privy to. And if his guess was right, she had found out the same thing he had, if only by different means.

He waited patiently for her to notice that he had returned. When she finally glanced over in his general direction, he caught her eye and nodded. She nodded back, and turned back to the hapless men in blue. Just for fun, she pulled a one-eighty in the personality department—she gave them a saccharine smile and thanked them sweetly for answering her questions before pushing her way out the circle of police officers, pulling Trunks behind her. The chibi was looking up at his mother in obvious awe. She had just cowed about thirty people into telling her anything she wanted to know. That wasn't just good—that was absolutely brilliant!

But now his parents were giving each other strange looks. Not the usual 'I'm-mad-at-you' weird looks, but the far more serious 'we'll-discuss-this-later' glance. And that meant that it was something they couldn't talk about in front of him.

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Darn it, Trunks thought, disappointed. Sometimes being a kid just plain sucked.

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The trip home was surprisingly uneventful, as was the few hours that followed. Trunks noticed that both his parents seemed extremely preoccupied by something, and he assumed that it was the elusive subject that would undoubtedly be discussed later, after he had been sent off to bed.

Sure enough, he found himself being shooed off to his room early, and told not to set foot outside of that bedroom under pain of unspecified torture and almost certain death. To his mind, that meant that he would be locked in the gravity room with his father for a day, training under, oh, five hundred times Earth's gravity or thereabouts. And so the young demi-Saiyan retreated to his bedroom, disgruntled.

The minute that he was gone, Bulma turned a measuring gaze on her mate, who was seated on the other side of the room. "Well? Where did you go and how many laws did you have to break to find out whatever you did?"

Vegeta smirked. "Human laws are of no concern to me. I went into the house, and I probably found out the same thing you did."

"Which was?" Bulma folded her arms and leaned against an available wall in a stance not unlike Vegeta's trademark pose.

The Saiyan's eyes narrowed at her question. He told her what he'd done and what he'd found out, as quicky and succintly as possible, but without leaving out any important details. With each sentence, Bulma's blue eyes got a little bit wider.

When he finished, she stumbled forward a few steps and all but collapsed into a convenient chair. Her face was a mask of shock and horror. "Dear gods…you got more than I did. I basically got the what. You got the who, the how, the when, and the where."

"There's another aspect of this that should be considered, Bulma," Vegeta said. She knew how serious he was—after all, he'd actually used her first name instead of just calling her 'woman,' like he usually did. Strange how such an insulting nominative could become almost a nickname over time.

Bulma pondered his statement for a moment before realizing what he was talking about, and she clasped a hand over her mouth. "Oh no…how do we tell Gohan about this?"

Vegeta didn't reply, but his face said it all.

AN: Don't ask me why I took the story in this direction. For some reason, I just wanted someone else to find out before Gohan did, and Vegeta seemed a perfect candidate. But never fear, dear friends. Gohan will come onto the scene in the next chapter.

BTW, I would just like to say IT IS NOT GOHAN!!!!!!!! Geez, what do you guys take him for? I honestly don't know if I am going to have a specific culprit by name or what. I'm also not sure if there's gonna be closure (so to speak) or not. We'll just wait and see what happens. Thanks a whole bunch for reading, and hopefully I'll get the next chapter up a lot sooner than I did this one. I have a list of ideas for one-shots and songfics lying around, and I decided to immerse myself in them up to my elbows. Fun, huh? Actually, it is pretty entertaining. Well, TT4N!

Okay, BTW again. I was just wondering—does anybody know where I can find lyrics/a translation for the song "Spirit vs. Spirit?" I been looking all over the place, and I can't find it. I'd much appreciate it. Thanks!


	3. Afraid

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AN: I'm back! Thank you, wonderful reviewers! And now, let's continue! I'm ending every sentence with an exclamation point! I don't own Dragonball Z! I don't own the title song! Josh Groban does!

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Chapter Three—Afraid

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I look up to everything you are

In my eyes you do no wrong

I've loved you for so long

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It was the day after the attack. Videl was in the hospital, and the media was in a frenzy that the daughter of the World Martial Arts Champion, the world's hero, had been attacked like that.

All this was unknown to a certain someone a long distance away.

Son Gohan had been experiencing a feeling of vague unease since the previous evening, but when he'd woken up that morning, he had been downright panicked. His dreams had been strange, as if he was experiencing something terrible through someone else's eyes. The images were foggy and unclear; he wasn't sure what to make of them.

So he'd tried to keep himself occupied by playing hide and seek with Goten. That hadn't worked to well, since he could just sense his brother to find him. So he'd finally given in and initiated a sparring match between himself and his younger brother. Sparring was a much better distraction. Goten's skills were constantly improving, so the match required not only intense physical focus, but complete mental concentration as well. It was much easier to keep his mind off things as long as the two brothers were duking it out.

It was during one of their breaks, when Gohan allowed himself to return to his jumbled thoughts, that Vegeta made his appearance. The Saiyan Prince touched down easily, just beyond the area Gohan and Goten had deemed to be their sparring space. Vegeta wasted no time, but strolled right up to Gohan; he grabbed the demi-Saiyan by the collar and dragged him rudely to his feet.

Gohan sighed, long used to Vegeta's mannerisms, and simply said, "Hey. What's up?"

"You don't know, brat." It was a question phrased as a statement. "I'm surprised."

"Well, I've been having a weird feeling since last night, if that counts," Gohan replied, realizing suddenly that he was very tense. "Why? Did something happen?"

"Yes," Vegeta answered shortly. "Come with me."

It was only then that Gohan realized that Vegeta was acting strangely. It wasn't like the Saiyan Prince at all to just appear at their house, for one, but then to speak with any of them without offering up sarcasm upon sarcasm was unheard of. Yet they had just had an entire exchange without a single scathing remark. How odd.

This realization was interrupted by Goten pulling on his arm. "Gohan, what's going on?"

The teenager balked for a second before responding. "Goten, go inside and see if there's anything you can help Mom with, okay?" Goten's chin quivered, and the chibi looked ready to burst into tears at being left out. But Gohan saw it, and averted the potential disaster. "I don't think I'll be gone very long, and we'll play more when I get back, okay?"

Goten immediately brightened. "Okay!" Satisfied, the chibi skipped off to the house to inform his mother of his brother's temporary departure.

With the younger Son gone, Gohan returned his attention to Vegeta, who had already lifted off and was hovering about fifteen feet in the air. Gohan pushed off as well, and the two Saiyans shot off in the direction of Satan City.

"So what's the big emergency?" Gohan asked after they'd been flying for about ten minutes. So far, they'd flown in complete silence, and finally, the teenager had ventured to ask something that had been bothering him since they'd left his house.

Vegeta was silent a moment longer, then replied, "Something happened to your girlfriend."

Whatever Gohan had been expecting, it definitely wasn't that. "What do you mean, something happened to her? What's wrong with Videl?" he asked anxiously.

"I think you should hear it from her," Vegeta answered shortly. "You won't like it."

Gohan bit his lip to keep from screaming in frustration. "So where are we going?"

"_You_ are going to help her," the Saiyan replied, stopping suddenly in midair. After Gohan had skidded to a halt, he continued. "The woman has ways of finding things out. The human doctors can't wake your mate up. She's unconscious."

"In a coma?" Gohan said incredulously. This was impossible!

"Yes. Nothing's reaching her," Vegeta took off again, and Gohan had to play catch-up. "So that's what you're going to do. You're going to call her."

"Vegeta…she's not my mate!" Gohan protested, knowing that the argument would fall on deaf ears. He'd been getting this kind of crap for quite some time now, and it was getting annoying.

He got an eyeroll and a snort for his protest. By that time, they had gotten to the city limits, where they landed, and they walked the short distance to the hospital in silence. It had taken quite a while to beat it into Vegeta's head, but finally he had learned a little discretion!

At the hospital doors, Vegeta stopped. "You go alone from here. I'm going home to train." Apparently having done his job, the Saiyan Prince took his leave, and Gohan was left alone to face…well, he actually wasn't sure what he was up against in this case.

Pushing open the doors to Satan City Hospital, his eyes were greeted by the sight of Hercule making a statement to a cluster of reporters. Apparently, this was the first time the "World Champ" had spoken with the press about whatever terrible thing had befallen his daughter. Gohan could only catch bits and pieces of it above the ruckus the crowd was making, but from what he got, he knew he wasn't going to like it. But what he heard also confirmed what Vegeta had said: Videl was in a coma, and nothing the doctors could do could pull her out of it.

Fortunately, Gohan could get her back. He knew he could. The trouble was going to be getting in there to actually do it!

"Gohan!" a female voice called his name from across the room. He turned and saw Erasa and Sharpner moving towards him, climbing over a few reporters in the process. When they finally got to him, he was startled to see that Erasa actually looked serious. He'd never seen her like that before. "Do you know what's going on? They won't tell us anything!"

"I…don't know," Gohan shrugged. "That's what I'm trying to find out."

"Well, you're her boyfriend, genius," Sharpner rolled his eyes. "Maybe Hercule'll let you talk to her. Not likely, but it's worth a shot. Not that it'll do much. The only thing we know is she's—"

"In a coma," Gohan cut the other boy off. "I'm going to try and talk to Hercule. He doesn't like me very much, but maybe…"

Hercule had apparently wrapped up his speech, and half of the reporters were dispersing, having gotten what they needed for their stories. This gave Gohan his opportunity; he pushed through the remaining throng of people right up to Hercule.

The World Champ glared at him. "You're that skinny kid Videl's always hanging around. What do you want, kid?"

Gohan took a deep breath and said, "Sir, can they get her to wake up yet?"

"No, they can't. Now go away, kid," Hercule turned to walk away.

Praying he wouldn't sound too crazy, Gohan spoke again. "I think I can wake her up. If you'll give me a chance, I mean."

That stopped Hercule in his tracks. Slowly, the afroed man turned and bestowed a very measuring gaze on the teenager. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"No, sir. I think I can help. No guarantee, but if it works…she should be able to wake up."

Hercule Satan studied the tall, thin teenager in front of him. The kid was offering to bring his daughter back, when the best doctor's in the city hadn't been able to do anything. It was ludicrous! But…if he could actually do it…for all of his faults and shortcomings, numerous as they were, one of Hercule's most redeeming qualities was that he loved his daughter with all his heart.

After considering for a moment and deciding that it wouldn't hurt to try, finally, Mr. Satan nodded. "All right, kid. You can try. But no funny stuff. You put one toe outta line, and I'll have the police all over you. You understand me?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir," Gohan sighed with relief and followed Hercule into the hospital hallways. He ignored the flashbulbs and questions from reporters as he walked past. They took many turns and walked up a staircase until they finally approached a doorway flanked by two uniformed police officers. They nodded to the World Champ as he walked by, and gave Gohan equally suspicious glares.

When Gohan got his first sight of Videl, he could have very easily gone SS2 from emotion alone. She was laid out neatly on the bed, swathed in sheets, with her hands folded on her stomach. Machines of every imaginable kind were hooked up to her on nearly every visible part of her. There was some kind of a tube sticking out of her mouth, which Gohan correctly assumed was to help her breath. A few locks of dark hair managed to peek out from underneath the dressing wrapped around her head.

The most terrible part was her face. Videl's face (which was, in Gohan's opinion, one of the most beautiful in the world) was marred by bruises. Her lip was cut, and there was a bandage on her right cheek that most likely covered another cut or some such injury.

Hercule carefully watched the kid's reaction, and for some reason, it satisfied him. He didn't know how he knew, but Videl would be safe around this guy. Not that Hercule wanted his daughter dating such a scrawny little punk, of course. But at least he was a _safe_ scrawny little punk.

"So…what are you going to do exactly?" Hercule finally asked.

"Umm…could you maybe…leave us alone?" Gohan asked hesitantly, not sure of the answer he was going to get. "It'll work better if I can focus. I'll explain the whole thing after she's awake, if you want, but in order for this to work, I need to be alone with her."

Hercule thought about it for a minute, then nodded, slowly. "You got five minutes, kid." Then he left, pulling the door closed behind him. Gohan could sense him out there; the World Champ was standing not two inches away from that door. Probably trying to look through the door to see what was happening, and definitely listening for any signs of trouble.

Well, he had five minutes. It was time to get to work.

Gohan pulled a tall stool over to the bed, and took a seat. Up closer, he took a better look at Videl. He desperately wished her eyes would open so he could see them. With a little luck, what he intended to do would work, and Videl would open her eyes.

He'd known for quite some time that he and Videl were bonded, and he'd known for even longer what such a bond meant. Videl knew about the bond too, of course, though she didn't know what it meant, and together they had been working to strengthen and develop it. They could hear each others thoughts and read each others emotions quite easily now, which came in very handy during those boring math classes; they could have entire conversations without anyone ever noticing. Eventually, he was going to have to explain to her what it meant—that they were destined to be together—but for the moment, that mind-to-mind bond was going to be the instrument by which he reached her.

This wasn't the first experience he'd had with calling someone out of the darkness, only the previous time, he had been the one being called, and it had been Goten who had summoned him. He shuddered at the memory. (AN: Yes, this is the same thing as in APPIB, for those of you who have read that story.) He suspected that Videl's coma was more of the same thing that had happened to him that time so many years ago: it wasn't so much a coma as a self-imposed darkness. An body without a soul. Everything worked, but there just wasn't anyone home. She had been in danger, and to avoid death, her soul had just fled from her body into the darkness, leaving her hanging on the knife edge between being alive and being dead. Her soul was still tied to her body, and quite privy to whatever pain her body might be in while it was unconscious.

Wandering around, lost in that darkness, she wouldn't know that she was safe again, and in the hands of friends. Until someone with a strong emotional tie to her called her back, she would remain lost forever, stuck in between the living and the dead.

Gohan intended to use the bond—a very strong emotional link—to show her the way back. It was actually a stronger link than she knew. Gohan had never been able to admit to her (or himself, for that matter) that he might have fallen in love with Videl. But now, that strange stirring he felt whenever he saw her or talked to her or even thought about her could be the thing that saved her.

He took one of her pale, limp hands in his own, closed his eyes, and focused. It only took a minute to send himself into a trance that Piccolo would have been proud of. That was what he'd needed to be alone for; with others in the room, he would never be able to focus completely enough to get into this deep of a trance. In such a state, the building could have been blown up around him, and he probably wouldn't have noticed unless a piece of extremely heavy debris hit him on the head.

Once in the trance, Gohan reached with his mind, down the bond, prying open a link into Videl's mind. Since she wasn't in there, he had to force his way in, and call her. When he got into her mind, he could quite clearly see things there. Memories of Videl's that were just kind of lying around, since her mind was being used at that moment. And what he saw startled him; the fuzzy images floating on the top of Videl's memory were the same blurry images that had haunted his dream the nght before. It had felt strangely like the dream had been taking place through someone else's eyes, and now he knew. And in addition to that, he could finally see exactly what they had meant. And it horrified and nauseauted him. Was this was had happened to Videl?

With some effort, he shook the thoughts and emotions loose. They were threatening to overwhelm him, and he didn't have time for that. He sent his thoughts and feelings towards her, trying to use every bit of everything he felt for her to create a beacon to bring her back.

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Come on, Videl, he sent desperately, hoping he could hold out until she got there. _Come back._

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Videl stumbled through the darkness. Her feet felt heavier and heavier with each step she took, as though she had training weights tied to her feet. She couldn't help but feel like she was tied to something. But that was impossible. There was nothing around her except darkness. And lots of it.

Finally, she sat down. She was lost, hopelessly lost, and she could barely move. And in addition to that, it hurt. The pain was near excruciating, and she didn't know why. All she really wanted to do was curl up into a little ball on the darkness that made up the surface beneath her, and cry. Not that it would do any good; her situation would still be the same. But it might make her feel better.

It came from behind her. The light appeared, shooting up from the ground, and sending the darkness fleeing before it. A bright beacon, like a searchlight, glowing from the ground and panning over the sky. The light was pulsing, dimming and brightening to the quickening rhythm of her own heartbeat. She stared at it with wide eyes and open mouth for a long moment.

Then the voice came. Gohan's voice, speaking to her. It was coming from the light.

__

Follow my voice, he was saying. _Follow my voice and follow the light. It's the way out. _What he said next confirmed what she'd been thinking—that he did know exactly where she was. _You're in the darkness, and if you don't follow the light back, you'll be stuck there forever. You have to trust me, Videl. It's safe to come back now. And you'd better hurry, before your father decides to come after me._

In spite of herself and the pain she was in, Videl smiled. He knew she could hear him, and he was teasing her, just like always did. And besides, the prospect of being stuck in the darkness forever was far, far less than appealing.

Gathering her energy and her nerve, Videl did her best to ignore the searing pain, and stumbled towards the light and the wonderful, wonderful sound of Gohan's voice. And the light continued to lighten and fade in time to the cadence of her heart.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When five minutes to the second were up, Hercule stormed back into the room, not quite sure what to expect. What he saw was the scrawny kid, who's name he couldn't seem to remember, sitting on a stool beside Videl's bed, with his eyes closed; he was holding Videl's hand.

"Hey, kid!" Hercule called. But he was startled when the kid didn't move at all. It was like he didn't even notice that there was anyone else in the room.

Behind him, Hercule could hear the doctors and a few police officers muttering; they were peering over his shoulder in an attempt to see what was going on. Apparently, whatever was happening was as much a mystery to them as it was to Hercule.

So when Gohan suddenly dropped Videl's hand and fell forward, very nearly toppling off the stool, all of them jumped a mile. One of the physicians ran forward; his instincts as a doctor had kicked in, and he wanted to make sure that the teenager was all right.

Naturally, Gohan was fine, if a little bit strained. His head was throbbing from the effort he'd put into that. And when he looked at Videl, he already knew he'd done it. She hadn't moved or made a sound yet, but he knew. A hint of color had returned to her face, quite obvious even under the bruises, and her breathing was far deeper. Of course, only someone with Saiyan eyes and hearing could have really discerned the difference without being right up next to her, but fortunately, Gohan had those senses at his full disposal.

Sure enough, after a few seconds, Videl moaned softly, and her face wrinkled in something very similar to pain or concentration. Her eyelids fluttered. The doctors, officers, and Hercule all shoved past Gohan to her bedside. Gohan sighed at the lack of gratitude, and stood behind them, leaning over a little so he could see better.

The breathing tube in her throat was making it near impossible for her to talk clearly, but she was making several noises that sounded like she was trying to speak. Her face contorted again. And finally, after about sixty seconds of this, Videl's eyes fluttered open and looked around.

Her eyes looked around the bed at the crowd gathered around her. They paused on her father, and brightened for a moment. Then they continued moving, and stopped again to focus on Gohan.

What she did next surprised him. Nobody else really seemed to notice it, but when Videl's eyes fell on Gohan, they widened, and only Gohan, who had seen that look in many eyes before, could have possibly read what was written there.

Surprise. Panic. And, most nauseating of all to Gohan…_fear_.

She was afraid. Of him. Videl was afraid of him.

It was almost too much for Gohan to comprehend. That, combined with the mental fatigue he was already under, made the room reel around him; he steadied himself before anyone noticed.

Videl started making noises again, which meant she was trying to speak. Gohan stepped back, still watching her, and observed while they calmed her down enough to remove the tube from her throat. He waited to see if she would say anything to him.

Surprisingly, she didn't. Instead, she gasped for a few seconds, then looked around again. Her eyes paused on him again, and again he saw that same…_fear_. But it was only for a moment, and then she looked at her father and said, in a soft, scratchy voice, "Daddy…where am I?"

"You're in the hospital, sweet pea," Hercule replied gently. He looked ready to cry.

"Miss Satan?" one of the police officers, a heavyset blonde woman, stepped forward.

She looked at her for a minute, then managed a weak smile and croaked, "Hey Michelle. Is your mother doing better?" Obviously, this was someone Videl had worked with before.

"Much better, Videl," the officer, Michelle, returned the smile. "I hate to do this to you, but I need to know if you remember what happened to you."

Videl's brow creased in thought as she struggled to make her thoughts work and tried not to remind herself that Gohan was still in the room. Finally, she managed to put everything in order. And she was amazed at how much she actually did remember, even though she had been unconscious for a good part of it. She remembered.

Biting her lip, Videl nodded. "I remember…most of it…" She dropped her head down, hoping and praying that no one would see that she was trying not to cry.

Gohan saw it, but he said nothing. Knowing that he wasn't doing anymore good here, and that he would probably end up just getting in the way, he tiptoed silently to the door and slipped out, drawing no attention to himself. Only Videl noticed that he had left.

Most of the reporters were gone, having left to prepare their stories for the papers or for the television studio news programs or whatnot. Sharpner and Erasa were on the other side of the room; they didn't notice him coming out of the hallway, and he decided not to draw any attention to himself. Instead, he walked quickly out the front door of the hospital.

Trying to get rid of some of his seething emotions, mostly anger at what had been done to Videl, he ran to the outskirts of the city and shot into the air the instant he was outside the city limits. He zoomed home, turning anxious loops in the air as he flew. He needed to burn off more of his anger, and he knew exactly how.

Sparring match. If he couldn't get rid of it on his own, he could take it out on someone else. And luckily, Gohan had just the person in mind.

It didn't take very long for him to get to the waterfall, where Piccolo was hovering in his typical pose of meditation. Normally, Gohan was very respectful of his old teacher and mentor, and would approach slowly, waiting for his presence to be acknowledged before speaking.

Right now, he was just too wound up for patience; he flew up to the Namekian and yelled right into Piccolo's ear. "Hey! Wake up!"

Obviously, Piccolo wasn't ready for that, since it was far out of the ordinary for Gohan to be that rude. He nearly fell out of the air, but steadied himself, clutching his ringing ears in pain, and trying to make his head stop throbbing. Once he was steady again, he gave his former student a very Vegeta-like death glare. "I assume an explanation is forthcoming."

"Spar. Now." Gohan's face was so coldly passive he might as well have been wearing a mask. Piccolo immediately saw this, but made no comment on it. Instead, he merely agreed to the idea of a sparring match. Once the okay was given, Gohan threw himself headfirst at Piccolo.

The Namekian realizaed exactly where this fight was going, and put up a defense. He held out until Gohan had worn himself out, and then flattened the young demi-Saiyan with a simple punch to the jaw, something not even a beginner would have gotten hit with or knocked over by. Gohan was knocked out of the air and landed in the water at the base of the waterfall. It took him a minute to climb out, and he sprawled out on his back on the riverbank, panting. Piccolo landed next to him.

After he stopped seeing stars, Gohan glared upwards into his sensei's narrowed eyes. "You already know what I'm going to say, so I won't even bother saying it. Now get up and take a seat."

By take a seat, that meant that they were going back into the air to talk. They floated cross-legged beside the waterfall. Piccolo looked expectantly at his student. "Well? Explain."

With a sigh, Gohan filled Piccolo in on everything that had happened, starting with the terrible feeling he'd had the night before, through the strange dreams, and onto the events of the past hour or so, from Vegeta's strange visit through his experience at the hospital, and finally his need to just burn off some emotions. That was why he'd demanded the spar.

Piccolo listened silently to the story, and quirked a brow at the end. "So do you feel any better?"

"Actually, I feel wet and stupid," Gohan complained, looking down at himself. His gi was soaked, and he had a feeling that his mother would NOT be happy about that.

"As well you should," Piccolo risked the joke, not quite sure of Gohan's mood.

Fortunately, the demi-Saiyan was pretty much back to normal. "Yeah. I know. So what do I do? I mean, she was afraid of me, Piccolo. Scared to death! I've never hurt her! Why is she scared?"

"You saw what was in her head. That's part of it, and I assume you've figured that out," the Namekian said thoughtfully. "Just give it time. It should work itself out. Whatever's got her so worked up, it didn't have anything to do with you. Let her work things out for herself, and realize that she has no reason to be freaked out by you." At least, Piccolo hoped that would happen. Even a blind man could have seen that Gohan was very much attached to that human girl, probably moreso than even Gohan himself realized. And until things got back to some semblance of normal, the kid would be just short of a wreck.

"How long do you think that'll take?" Gohan asked.

"Who knows? Might be tomorrow, might be next year," Piccolo answered in all truthfullness. He didn't know exactly how humans operated, but he knew they were all different. Better to tell the kid the blunt truth rather then soften the blow.

Sure enough, Gohan groaned at the mention of next year. "You know what, Mr. Piccolo?"

The Namekian smirked inwardly at the use of the old honorific, the only nickname he'd ever accepted being called in his life. "What, kid?" he answered, using the only pet name he himself had ever fallen into using.

Gohan rolled backwards in the air and unfolded his legs so he was just hanging limply on his back with his arms and legs hanging downwards. "This really sucks!"

The two exchanged a few more words, and then Gohan took his leave to head home, hoping for a few things to happen.

First, he hoped that Videl was really okay, physically, mentally, and emotionally, and if she wasn't, he hoped that she would be able to fully recover.

Secondly, he hoped that he'd mininterpreted those images he'd seen in her mind, and that he was wrong, that those weren't really Videl's memories of what had happened to her.

Thirdly, he hoped that Videl would get over whatever it was that made her so afraid of him. Just thinking about that look in her eyes when she saw him…she had been terrified. The thought sickened him. He didn't want her to be afraid of him! He didn't want anyone to be afraid of him, unless that someone was there to destroy the Earth and wipe out all life on the planet. Then they could be afraid of him.

Fourthly, he hoped that Piccolo was right, and that things would work themselves out. Videl was his best friend, his confidante…everything. Not being able to talk to her was just unimaginable. Especially with the strength of their bond. If things didn't work out, the bond could end up broken, and that had the potential to be very damaging to both himself and Videl. He would have rather sawed off his left arm then let that happen. Their bond was just too precious to him.

Lastly, he hoped that the fly home would dry his clothes off. He wasn't sure why, but he had a sneaking suspicion that if he walked into his house with wet hair and clothes, dripping all over the floor, his mother would be very likely to have a cat. No, no, scratch that. She wouldn't have a cat. She'd probably have a whole litter.

AN: Wow! This is the longest chapter I've ever written for anything ever! Like I said, this story is going to be fewer chapters, but they'll be longer. And I finally finished "And Then There Were None," so this story has officially become priority. With a little luck, I'll be able to put up the next chapter a lot faster then I did this one. Thanks for your patience, and thanks for reading. Later!


	4. Two Gentlemen Callers

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AN: Thank you, reviewers! Much faster update, in case you didn't notice. Gotta get back into my habit of quick updates. I kinda lost that habit when school started. Oh well. Onwards! Mesa no ownsie da DBZ.

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Chapter Four—Two Gentlemen Callers

__

And after all is said and done

You're still you

After all, you're still you

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

It had been a pleasant, sunny afternoon, and that pleasant, sunny afternoon had faded into a comfortable twilight. It was even nicer because according to the weatherman, they were going to have rain the next day.

Videl looked out the window, which was closed and locked, and sighed. It had been two weeks since…_it_ happened. Two days ago, she had finally forced the doctors to let her leave the hospital. It had taken nearly everything she had to get them to agree. Finally they had acquesied, but only after extracting a solemn promise from her that she would stay in bed for a few days more. They were already baffled at how it was possible that she was making such a quick recovery from injuries that could have—and for all intents and purposes, _should_ have—been fatal.

But Videl thought she knew. Gohan probably had something to do with that. He had been inside her head, and called her back out of the darkness. He'd probably done something to help her healing along as well. That was typically Gohan, though. Helpful to a fault.

She dropped her eyes to where her hands were folded in her lap. Gohan. Now that was a problem.

Videl knew full well that Gohan had absolutely nothing to do with what had happened to her. No way, no how. He definitely wasn't that kind of guy in any way, shape, or form, and one of the things she really liked about him was that she knew he would never hurt her. If he did, he would probably tear his own heart out with guilt over it. Gohan was her best friend, and he meant the world to her. Even after this, she knew he wouldn't blame her or abandon her.

So why did the very thought of him—or any other guy, for that matter—make her start shaking like a leaf in a storm? Why did she involuntarily start to panic when any male came near her, even the men on her father's staff? She'd known many of them her whole life, and they were like fathers and brothers to her. Yet when one of them, a long-time employee, had patted her on the shoulder and asked how she was feeling, she had very nearly burst into tears. And she didn't know why.

It bothered her, but she didn't quite know how to deal with it. So she had closeted herself up in her bedroom, allowing only Hannah in to see her. Hannah, she knew and trusted. Hannah was safe.

Her eyes drifted back out the window. She had stalwartly refused to go back to school until further notice, using the doctor's orders of bed rest and as little stress as possible as her arguments, and after a few heated discussions over the matter, the issue had been dropped. But it was only a temporary respite. As Hannah had been so kind to point out, she couldn't hide from the world forever.

As if the thought had summoned her, the familiar knock came on the door. "Videl?"

Videl turned her head to look at the door. "Come in."

The door opened, and Hannah stepped in. She seemed to have aged about ten years in the last couple weeks from worry alone. "You have two visitors, Videl. Two young gentlemen callers. They said that they know you." The older woman's eyes were dancing.

Videl managed a smile, but her whole body started to shake. "I don't know…"

"Trust me on this one, Videl," Hannah smiled knowingly. "You want to see these two. I think you'll feel better once you know who it is."

Realizing it was a losing argument, Videl sighed dramatically. "Okay…but just for a minute." Hannah's smiling face disappeared down the hall.

A few minutes later, two very familiar faces came bobbing into the room. And Videl could have laughed from relief.

"Hiya Videl!" Goten ran across the room and jumped onto the bed to grab his 'almost sister' in the biggest hug the chibi could muster up. A second later, Trunks also scampered in and across the room.

"Hey, what's up?" Trunks asked.

"Not much," she answered, giving Goten another tight squeeze before releasing him.

He sat back and looked up at her. "Were you sick or something?"

"What?" she looked at him in confusion.

"Gohan said you were in the hospital," Goten said importantly. "Were you sick or did you get hurt or something? And are you better now?"

After about a nanosecond's hesitation, Videl nodded. "Yes, Goten. A little of both, I guess."

Satisfied, Goten jumped back off the bed and fished into the pocket of his gi. "Oh, oh, oh! I have something for you to make you feel better!" After a minute, he finally pulled a folded, slightly crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket and proudly handed it to her.

She unfolded it, and her heart all but melted. It was a childish crayon drawing—more of an organized scribble, really—in several eye-blinding colors. At the bottom, in Goten's barely legible scrawl, was her name next to a big heart. It was definitely an amatuer piece of artwork, by even the most generous standards, but Videl was genuinely touched.

"Oh, Goten, it's beautiful!" she said, and found she really meant it.

"It's a get well soon picture!" Goten beamed, exceedingly proud that his artwork was so appreciated. He clambered up next to her and jabbed his finger at the paper. "See! There's me and you and Gohan, and you're all better, and everybody's happy!"

It was very typically Goten. Even though thinking about Gohan made her shake like a washing machine on spin cycle. But the gesture was wonderful. "You know what? I'm going to hang this right here so I'll always be able to see it." A couple of thumbtacks was all it took to hang Goten's "get well soon" picture on the bulletin board above her desk. "There. Now everyone can see it."

"Yay!" Goten jumped up and down, cheering, before turning to Trunks. "See? I told ya she would like it. So there!" He stuck his tongue out at his lavender-haired friend.

Videl rolled her eyes. It was quite a strain to keep act like there was absolutely nothing wrong in front of the two children, but it was worth it. Hannah had been right. Talking to these two had been a very good idea. "So, what else is going on in your lives?"

This took any possible burden of conversation off of Videl's shoulders, as the chibis were full of talk and gossip about the latest happenings in their respective worlds. She just sat back and listened while they jabbered on with seemingly endless tales. It was definitely an amusing way to spend her afternoon.

All of a sudden, Goten stopped talking and looked at her with an odd expression on his little face. "Videl, Gohan's really worried about you."

Videl was taken aback at the sudden change in topic. "What? Why?"

"He said you were in the hospital," Goten answered. "And you haven't been at school or anything. And I think there was something else bothering him, but he didn't tell me anything else, except one thing. He said to tell you that Saiyaman could really use his sidekick back."

Trunks rolled his eyes, and Videl managed a smile. "Sidekick, huh? I'm insulted!"

"You should be!" Trunks nodded fervently.

"So what has Saiyaman been up to lately?" she asked in an obvious attempt to get off the subject of Gohan. Apparently, the two children weren't paying very close attention, because they missed the obviousness of the subject change, and immediately launched into complicated descriptions of Saiyaman's latest adventures against the forces of evil. There was one particularly amusing story, in which the hero of Satan City, the Great Saiyaman, somehow managed to accidently get dumped into the fountain in the park. She missed most of the activity that led up to that occurrence, but by the end of that little tale, she was lying on her back, laughing her head off.

Thinking about Gohan scared her half to death, but for some reason, Saiyaman was a lot less threatening. Maybe it was just because he was…well…an idiot!

After a while, the chibis began to wind down. And after they'd been visiting for an hour, they announced that they had to leave. Videl emerged from her room for the first time that day to walk them downstairs to the front door. Not that they needed to leave through a door. It was more of a formality than anything else, since they could have just as easily gone out a window or some such thing. When they got to the front door, she stood there and waved goodbye as they started off. But they had to keep going back because Goten kept wanting to get another hug from the girl he had sort of adopted as his big sister.

"Hey Videl…" Goten asked during what he swore would be his last hug.

"What's up, sweetie?" she looked down into those huge dark eyes, and had the sudden feeling that she wasn't going to like whatever was coming next. She was right.

"Why don't you want to talk about my brother?" the chibi asked innocently. So he had noticed. Surprising, coming from Goten. "Every time we said something about him, you started acting funny, and then you would talk about something else."

"Yeah, he's right," Trunks joined in. "Whatsa matter?"

"Oh…umm…" Videl actually stuttered. "Well, I…" her voice trailed off. Why did Goten have to choose the worst possible times to be perceptive?

"Did something bad happen, Videl?" Goten asked again, showing an intelligence that was rare indeed for him. "Does it have to do with you being sick?"

By sick, she realized, he meant her stay in the hospital. "Sort of…I tell you…later…"

"Okay!" Goten chirped, back to his normal self. He gave her one last squeeze, and finally, the two terrors took off, headed for destinations unknown. Videl actually found herself wondering how much damage and destruction they would manage to cause before they arrived at their homes or wherever they were going. Shaking her head, she closed the door and dashed back up to her room, meeting no one on the way there. She dove into the safety of her bedroom and collapsed back into bed, feeling emotionally drained and physically exhausted.

It was nice to see the children again; she wasn't afraid of them at all, and they were definitely amusing. But keeping up any semblance of a normal front in front of them was just plain tough! It took a lot out of her, and they'd still noticed that something was wrong. Goten's occassional perceptiveness was just…unnerving.

Another knock on the door. "Videl?"

"Come on in, Hannah."

The door opened, and the older woman poked her head in through the door. "Judging from the amount of noise I heard in here, I'd say that I was right in telling you to talk to those nice boys."

"Don't you dare say 'I told you so,'" Videl rolled her eyes and pulled a pillow over her head.

"I wouldn't dream of it!" Hannah said with a touch of melodrama. "So what were you talking about in here? Sounded like fun."

"Goten brought me a get better soon picture. It's on the bulletin board."

Hannah turned to study the brightly colored crayon drawing, and smiled indulgently. "Oh, how lovely! Who is it a picture of?"

"You can tell it's people?" Videl lifted her head from under the pillow and looked at the maid with a raised eyebrow. "I couldn't until Goten explained it to me!"

"You used to draw pictures like that when you were little. I learned to tell a long time ago," Hannah answered matter-of-factly. "So who is it?"

Sighing, Videl rolled out of bed and crossed the room. She pointed to each scribble in turn. "That's me, that's Goten, and that's Gohan."

Hannah turned a measuring eye on Videl. "Gohan? That name sounds familiar. A friend?"

"Yeah, he's a guy from school. Goten is his little brother," Videl answered shortly. After a minute, she became aware that she was getting Hannah's patented raised eyebrow glare. It was a look she didn't receive very often anymore. It very clearly read, 'There's something you're not telling me. Now talk.' It was a glare she had gotten as a child when she'd been caught doing something she shouldn't have been. "What? What's with the Look?"

"Tell me more about this Gohan," Hannah asked innocently.

Videl wasn't fooled. "Hannah, it's not like that! Gods above and below!" she protested, feeling her hands start to shake again. Damn it all, why was this happening to her.

"All right, all right!" Hannah held up her hands in a gesture of surrender. "Okay, I believe you. But I'm really worried about you, sweetling. You seemed pretty nervous when I told you there were two young men here to see you."

"You're being silly," Videl said. She received another one of Hannah's raised eyebrows, and sighed, defeated. She sat down on the edge of her bed and put her face in her hands. "I don't know what's wrong with me! I can't even think about any of my guy friends without getting panicked!"

"It's all right, dearling," Hannah sat down on the bed next to Videl and put a consoling arm around the teenager's shoulders. "You've been dragged facedown through hell about five times in the past two weeks, and now it's time to recover. It will take time."

"How long?"

"However long you need."

"I feel bad," Videl mumbled. "Gohan really came through for me."

"What do you mean?" Hannah was honestly intrigued. Of course Videl had mentioned this guy before, and Hannah had just been teasing earlier, but now she was starting to wonder if maybe there was really something there.

"We…we have this weird mindlink," Videl admitted, wishing desperately that she didn't have to talk about it. "We can talk telepathically. When I was out, he used that link to pull me back and wake me up, and I think he might have had something to do with the fact that I'm healing so fast. And so what do I do when I wake up? Start shaking like a scared rabbit. And he hasn't tried to talk to me since then. Why? Because he knew! And I don't know why it's Gohan that gets me the most freaked out." Videl felt like she was stretched to her very limits; it would take only the slightest touch to make her snap into pieces.

All through this admission, Hannah remained silent, keeping one arm around Videl's shaking shoulders. When the teenager's voice finally trailed off, Hannah spoke. "Are you afraid to speak to him?"

"Why?" Videl looked perplexed.

"This…mindlink you said you have? Could you talk to him, do you think?" Hannah ventured, beginning to see the situation for what it really was. "Or would you?"

"I could try…" Videl shrugged noncommittally.

"You should. Prove to yourself that there's nothing to be afraid of. It'll help."

"Do I have to do it now?"

"No. When you're ready. Not before. I remember you mentioning this guy. If he's as great as you say he is, then it should be just fine."

"Yeah…"

Hannah took a risk. "How special is this guy to you, Videl?"

To her surprise, the teenager blushed a little, and she answered in a hushed whisper. "Pretty special…but he doesn't know it."

"Hmm," Hannah murmured, not letting anything show any judgment. Having gotten that much out of her young friend, she decided to change the subject, for Videl's sake. "Heavens, dearling, you look exhausted. Go to sleep!"

"Yes, ma'am," Videl flashed a mock salute, but without much emphasis behind it. Then she crawled into bed and waited for Hannah to shut off the lights. Finally alone, she pulled the blanket up to her chin, stared into the darkness, and wondered if she would actually ever be able to leave this room again.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Whenever we said anything about you, she got a really weird look on her face," Goten said seriously around mouthfuls. "And then she started talking about something else. But she seemed to like hearing the stories about what Saiyaman's been up to." The chibi paused. "Did something really bad happen to Videl?

"I think so."

"Oh," Goten looked down at his plate. "I hope she feels better soon. I want her to come over again so we can play hide and seek and fly and stuff."

Gohan nodded, but didn't respond.

AN: Yes, I know this whole concept has been done before. But tell me truthfully—could you see it happening to anyone else? I can't. That's why I picked Videl. Sorry if you don't like it, but it's too late to change it now. Thanks for reading.

Next chapter: at Hannah's urging, Videl finally leaves the house…and runs into someone…


	5. A Chance Meeting

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AN: Ayiyiyi! I couldn't get logged onto the site! ARGH! I've been goin' bonkers over here! Ah, well, let's not live in the past, cuz it's already happened. My therapist says I need to move on. So I will, and put up Chapter Five. Hooray! I don't own DBZ, nor do I own the song "You're Still You." Akira Toriyama owns the former, and Josh Groban's got the latter, cuz he's da one dat singz it.

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Chapter Five—A Chance Meeting

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You walk past me

I can feel your pain

Time changes everything

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I'm going to go crazy…and then they'll take me away to the loony bin…nice padded white walls… Videl thought bleakly. She was going out of her mind from boredom.

Ever since Goten and Trunks' visit the day before, she had remained cooped up inside her bedroom, and now she was starting to wonder if maybe it was time for a change of scenery. The idea of simply moving to a different room in the mansion was appealing, but it didn't quite seem to cut it.

She wanted fresh air. She wanted to be able to run or fly around for a while. She wanted sunshine as well, but the weatherman had been right, and there had been a steady series of small rain showers falling on and off all day. She couldn't get sunshine, but she could probably get away with fresh air and running around. If she could convince herself to leave her house. Quite frankly, for the mansion being as huge as it was, she felt like she was suffocating.

It was at that point in her thoughts that Hannah entered the room. "What's going on in your head that I'm interrupting?"

"Not much. Just focusing on how miserable I am, and wallowing helplessly in self-pity," Videl replied sardonically, not moving from where she was sprawled out on her bed.

"Oh. So…nothing important?" Hannah teased.

"Bingo."

Videl felt extremely fortunate that she had Hannah around. Without that friendship, confidence, and crying shoulder, this whole thing would have been a whole lot worse. Hannah wouldn't leave her alone, nor would she let her spend all her time staring at the ceiling, feeling sorry for herself. At one point, Hannah had physically dragged Videl out of bed and made her get up and at least walk around.

All these were things that Videl wouldn't normally do, but then again, she wouldn't normally start shaking at the mention of Gohan's name, either. Nothing felt normal anymore.

"So…are you just going to lay there all day again?" Hannah asked innocently, but Videl wasn't fooled in the least.

"Why?" the teenager asked suspiciously.

"I think you should go out for a while," Hannah replied calmly, folding a shirt that had been thrown carelessly across the back of a chair. "Get some fresh air, move around, and maybe go see one of your friends, strange as that idea may seem."

"That's okay. I like my bed," Videl muttered.

"Now you're just being silly," the older woman turned to face the teen, hands on her hips in an 'angry mother' pose. "Those two blonde kids have stopped by a couple of times to see how you were. And there were those two little kids. You can't hide in here forever."

"Actually, I was planning to," Videl sighed. "I figure that if I got someone to bring my meals up to me, I could stay in here forever. It's quite comfortable."

"Sure. Then we'll see how long it is before we have to get you towed off to the loony bin," Hannah threw her hands up in exasperation as she echoed Videl's earlier thoughts. "You're going out whether you like it or not. If I have to throw you out that window to get you outside for ten minutes, I will."

"Anything but that…" Videl murmured, extremely subdued. When Hannah got like this, she might as well have been arguing with a brick wall for all the good it would do.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

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Why me? Videl wondered as she strolled through the rain. Actually, it was really more of a drizzle, but she didn't care. It was cold and wet; therefore, it was rain.

Once she'd gotten outside, it hadn't been too bad. She just stared at the ground mostly, and desperately avoided making eye contact with anyone. According to the deal she'd made with Hannah, she could go back inside after twenty minutes. She glanced at her watch and sighed. Only eighteen minutes left to go before she could retreat back to definite safety.

She was contemplating heading for the outskirts of the city. Once away from prying eyes, it would be safe to take flight. There wasn't any lightning, so there was no danger from that respect. And flying had always proved relaxing to her before. It seemed like a good plan, and it was the one she decided on.

Okay, so it wasn't so bad out here. As long as she didn't look at anybody—

Just then, someone came around a corner and plowed headfirst into her; she was sent falling backwards, where she managed to land on her behind in a puddle. The water was extremely cold, and she jumped up again almost as quickly as she had fallen.

The pedestrian who had run into her was concerned. "Are you all right?"

She looked up, and immediately had to exercise every ounce of self-control she possessed to keep from screaming. The face she saw wasn't the face of the poor man who had run into her. It was someone else…someone from her nightmares. Desperate to get away, she muttered a quick, "I'm fine," and took off across the street before the guy could say anything else. Her feet were doing the thinking now, and she kept moving without really thinking about where she was going.

Videl ended up in the middle of Satan City Park, hunched over, gasping for air. People milled by, casting confused, suspicious, or sympathetic glances at the daughter of the world's savior. But no one bothered her, which was just as well. Had someone walked up to her then, she wasn't sure how she would react. Chances were that it wouldn't be pretty.

__

Gods, what is wrong_ with you? _she mentally chastised herself, clenching her hands into fists on her knees. _You're stronger than this! Can't you hold it together for five minutes until you get home…no…_

Suddenly, she noticed something strange. There was still rain falling a few inches away from her feet, but no raindrops landed on her. And there was a small, round shadow over her. She looked up, and was startled to see an umbrella being held over her head.

Whirling around, she found herself face-to-face with Gohan, who was holding the umbrella over her and watching her with a mixture of concern and amusement. He was balancing a very large bag of groceries in his free hand.

Momentary panic seized her, and she glanced from side to side in search of an escape route when someone said her name. She looked straight ahead and had only a second to brace herself for a very enthusiastic greeting from Son Goten.

"Hiya Videl!" Goten squealed with his everlasting cheerfulness. "We found you! Big brother and me are running errands for Mommy. Whatcha doing?"

"Getting wet," she sighed, returned the squeeze. She freed one hand and used it to shove her damp bangs back from where they had been nicely plastered into her eyes. So now instead of being stuck to her forehead, they were sticking up in unruly spikes.

Goten gave her a sardonic look as she set him back down. "You aren't supposed to stand outside in the rain. You'll catch your death of cold," he scolded with the most serious of expressions on his face, wagging a finger at her. "At least, that's what Mommy says whenever Gohan and me wanna go outside and play in the rain. She always says no."

"Your mother is a very smart woman," Videl nodded. "I'm probably going to get pneumonia."

"You're gonna get sick again?" Goten looked horrified, and she had to smile.

"Not as bad as before. I won't have to go to the hospital again. I was really sick then."

"But you're all better now, and my picture helped!" Goten chirped.

"Yes it did," she replied before looking at her watch. It had been sixteen minutes almost to the second. By the time she walked home, the twenty minutes would be up. "Well, I'd better be heading home before I really do get sick."

"We'll walk ya home!" Goten announced proudly, taking one of her hands in both of his own. "Right, Gohan? Mommy won't mind."

Videl nearly jumped out of her skin. She'd all but forgotten that Gohan was still standing there, holding an umbrella over her head so she didn't get more soaked then she already was. She shot a nervous glance at the elder of the Son boys.

He didn't miss it. "That's up to Videl, kiddo. If she doesn't mind having two bodyguards escort her home, then it's okay." He returned her glance with a more questioning look.

Goten tugged on her arm, and she looked down into a pair of expertly delivered sad-puppy dog eyes. Those eyes would have melted harder hearts and harder resolves than Videl possessed, and she sighed. "Well, what girl wouldn't want two handsome young men escorting her to her front door?" she said, feeling greatly daring at the joke.

A huge smile, bright as the sun, cross the chibi's face. "Yay!" he jumped up and down happily. "Let's go! I know where your house is!" He skipped ahead in excitement, leaving the two teenagers to walk at a more adult pace.

"So…how have you been?" Gohan began slowly after they had been strolling along in awkward silence for about fifteen seconds. He was still holding the umbrella over her head to shield her from the rain, and balancing the sack of groceries on his hip with his free hand.

This wasn't lost on Videl. _Always the gentlemen, _she thought to herself, noticing that he was getting drenched. _Your mother raised you well. _But she didn't voice those thoughts. Her verbal response was a short and simple, "Fine."

"Goten keeps asking why you were in the hospital," the demi-Saiyan commented, keeping his eyes straight ahead and focused on his little brother. "I told him that maybe you were sick."

"So that's where that came from," she answered without even thinking about it. Goten was convinced that her mysterious stay at the hospital had been due to some strange illness. Well, let the child think what he wanted. It was a million times better than the truth. "Both Goten and Trunks kept asking what kind of disease I had, and if it was contagious. I think the motive behind that was whether or not they could get a day off of school from it."

Gohan chuckled. "That sounds more like Trunks than my brother."

At that moment, Goten stopped skipping ahead and ran back to them. He spent the rest of the walk between them, holding Videl's hand and chattering obliviously about anything and everything.

Gohan kept his face straight forward for most of the trip, but watched Videl out of the corner of his eye. She had managed to look everywhere but at him. Peculiar, to say the least.

His thoughts were interrupted by a tug on his sleeve. He turned his head for the first time to look down at the pint-sized Goku walking beside him. "What's up, squirt?"

"I figured something out!" the chibi announced proudly. He was definitely and completely oblivious to the tension that filled the space between the two teenagers.

"Really?" Gohan asked, knowing that this was going to be bizarre from past experiences with his brother's revelations. A shifty glance told him that Videl was listening to this too. "What did you figure out this time, squirt?"

"Cars!" was the enthusiastic reply.

Gohan was confused. "Cars?"

"Cars," Goten repeated firmly. "Get girls!"

It was one of the few times in Gohan's life that he actually choked on his own breath. He very nearly dropped the groceries he was carrying, a misfortune that would have splattered the pavement with broken eggs and sent tomatoes rolling into the street. Videl wasn't faring too much better, and both she and Gohan dissolved into near-hysterical laughter at Goten's 'discovery.' They actually had to stop for the two teens to regain composure.

"Geez…" Gohan gasped, still trying to catch his breath. "It took him seven years to figure out something I've been working on for eighteen!"

Goten just looked at them in confusion for a moment, and then shook his head. Sometimes grown-ups were just plain weird.

A few moments later, they reached the Satan mansion. Gohan would have said goodbye at the gate, but Goten ran ahead, right up to the front door, and rang the bell.

"Goten!" Gohan hissed, but the chibi either wasn't listening or was just ignoring his brother. Finally, the teenaged demi-Saiyan ran up to the front door and grabbed Goten's arm. "We'd better get home before Mom starts freaking out."

The door chose that moment to open, and Gohan found himself staring an older woman in the face. Her eyes looked at him questioningly; then those eyes came to rest on Goten, and immediately the suspicion was lifted and replaced with a cheerful sparkle.

"Hello again, young man! We haven't seen you since yesterday!" the woman said, bending over to speak to Goten.

"Hi! I remember you!" Goten said happily. "You're nice!"

The woman flushed and waved a hand, as if batting the compliment away. Suddenly, she looked quite a few years younger.

"Are you flirting with Hannah, Goten?" Videl asked, stepping up behind Gohan.

"Uh-uh!" Goten shook his head fervently.

Videl quirked a brow. "Liar. I know you better than that, you little charmer."

"So you must be Gohan," Hannah said suddenly to the elder of the Son boys.

"Oh, um, yes, I am," Gohan answered, a bit taken aback. He shook the proffered hand. "Just walking this young lady home."

"I see…hmm…" Hannah was obviously thinking about something. "I believe we have some fresh cookies in the kitchen, if the young man is interested?" She shot a meaningful glance towards the chibi that meant she was speaking about Goten, not Gohan.

"Cookies? For me? Yeah!" Goten was all enthusiasm.

"I don't think you wanna do that," Gohan cautioned. "He eats a lot."

"It'll be fine," Hannah said firmly, taking the child's hand and escorting him into the house. "I've been around children for a while. I'll keep an eye on it." With that, she led Goten around a corner, the chibi chattering happily, and the two disappeared.

A sudden thought struck Videl as she stepped into the house, and she spun around. "Feel up to a spar? I need to beat something."

Gohan looked startled. "Okay…sure!"

After stepping inside and shedding his wet jacket and umbrella and leaving the grocery bag propped up by the door, he followed her down a few hallways, taking occasional turns until they finally came to a door. She opened it a crack, peered in, then pushed it open all the way, revealing a martial arts dojo.

"Just making sure no one's in here," she commented as she strolled in and walked to the center of the floor. "Come on in and close the door.

Gohan obeyed, stepping in and pushing the door closed behind him. He turned around in time to get a knee in the stomach and an elbow in the back. It actually hurt, which meant that she'd put a lot of force behind it. The surprise alone was enough to send him sprawling to the floor at Videl's feet.

"Come on, Son," she growled with a surprising amount of anger in her voice. He knew she was really upset about something; she only called him by his last name when she was extremely ticked off. "I know you can do a lot better than this."

The demi-Saiyan picked himself up off the floor and dusted himself off. "I thought this was going to be a friendly spar," he said calmly, strolling towards the center of the room. "Instead, you jump me when my back's turned. Was I mistaken?"

The response was a fist flying at his head. He dodged, and the match had officially began. Only this time, he was actually prepared with a defense.

It was fairly long, considering the differences in their strengths. Videl was attacking like a person possessed by some insane demon that was pushing her beyond what she normally would have done. Gohan never fought with her at his full power, but in order to get through this one without too many bruises, he was actually having to exercise a tiny bit of his potential. And that was definitely not normal.

When her fist made contact with his face at one point (just one of a large number of punches she had managed to land), he actually paused to make sure his nose wasn't broken. In that split second, Videl landed a swift upwards kick to his chin, sending him sprawling backwards. He found himself flat on his back on the mat, staring up at the ceiling.

A few feet away, Videl was panting and sweating. But she looked strangely satisfied. "Had enough? Or shall we continue?"

Gohan got to his feet. "I wouldn't mind going on, if you don't."

She smirked, and he found it positively unnerving. No one had the right to flash the trademark Vegeta smirk except Vegeta. But he didn't have anymore time to contemplate that. Videl was already flying at his head with another onslaught, and it took all of his attention to block her attacks. She was definitely angry about something, and if he'd been almost anyone else, he probably would have been unconscious, bruised, and bleeding on the mat after about the first ten seconds or so.

All of a sudden, he saw it. That elusive opening in her defense. Seizing his opportunity, he struck. She wasn't ready for it initially, but she managed to somehow hook her foot around his leg on her way to the ground. That threw him off balance, and both of them tumbled to the floor.

Gohan realized about halfway down that if he landed on her, it would probably kill her, and managed to do a half-turn in midair. She landed—hard—on top of him instead of the other way around. They were face-to-face; their noses were maybe an inch apart.

For a short moment, neither moved. Then, Videl let out a tiny shriek and pushed herself backwards. She scooted a few feet across the floor, and ended up sitting a couple yards away from where Gohan was still sprawled on his back. He sat up and had to wipe sweat out of his eyes in order to even look at her. She was doing essentially the same thing: panting heavily, and wiping perspiration from her forehead with the back of her hand. Her face was bright red from exhertion.

"Well…that was fun…" he panted.

"Yeah…it was…" she replied in an equally hoarse voice.

An extremely heavy and very akward silence dropped onto the room with a nearly-audible thunk. After about thirty seconds, Gohan remembered something. "Hey, let's call it a draw, okay? I think we'd better go check on Goten. I know your housekeeper said she could handle him, but I'm not so sure what would happen if she tried to take the cookies away from him. Hopefully when we get there she'll still have both of her hands. Trying to take food away from a Saiyan isn't a good idea, and unless you warned her, she won't know that."

Videl chuckled in spite of herself. She knew exactly what Goten's eating habits were like. "I think Hannah can take care of herself. But okay, we'll call this a draw and go check it out."

He followed her once again; they had to walk through the main hallway, and passed through just as Goten was coming back with Hannah. He had what appeared to be a chocolate chip cookie in his hand, and he and the housekeeper seemed to be enjoying a lively conversation.

"Hi, big brother!" Goten smiled happily. He pointed a finger at Hannah. "She makes really good cookies! They're almost as yummy as Mommy's!"

"As I was just saying," Hannah chuckled with dancing eyes, "I'm honored. Not many can ever measure up to a mother's cooking." For a moment, the housekeeper's eyes landed on Videl, and one of her eyebrows quirked to form a quizzical expression. Then she looked back at the two boys; Gohan was helping Goten get his coat back on, since the chibi had managed to get tangled up in the jacket.

Finally, Goten's head poked through the right place. He looked at his laughing brother in annoyance. "I can't do everything! I'm just a little kid!"

"Oh, you're just a little kid, huh?" Gohan said, pulling his own coat on. "Well, then, what am I?"

"You're a kid who's bigger than me!"

The two women in the room both choked on laughter as Gohan continued. "Well, then what would you call Mom?"

"Mommy's a grown-up."

"Then what's Grandpa?"

The chibi rolled his eyes in exasperation at what he took to be his brother's thickheadedness. "Grandpa's a grown-up who used to own our Mommy," Goten replied matter-of-factly, as though it was the most obvious thing in the whole world. "He's a very old grown-up."

The adults were all biting their fists to keep from busting a gut with laughter at Goten's innocence. Gohan seemed to be the most in control, since he was far more accustomed to his brother's quirky ideas than the others. He handed the chibi the umbrella, than scooped up both Goten and the groceries. "Well, thank you for everything. We'd better get home before Mom has a cow."

Hannah stepped around them to open the door. "Please come again."

"If you promise to have more cookies, I will!" Goten said loudly, swallowing the last bite of his cookie. "Those were yummy!"

"I hope you didn't ruin your appetite," Gohan said with the air of a long-suffering sibling. The two brothers said one more goodbye, and then they were gone.

Hannah pushed the door closed once they were out of sight and turned a very measuring look on the young Miss Satan. "Well?"

"Well what?" Videl grumbled. "I needed to beat something, so I challenged him to a spar."

"I hope you didn't hurt him!" Hannah cried, but Videl shook her head.

"Gohan's actually a better fighter than I am," the teen sighed. "He just holds back so I actually have a chance. He's the one that taught me how to fly, so things aren't too uneven."

"Ah," Hannah managed to make that single syllable speak volumes, though she didn't elaborate on what her exact thoughts were. "Well, if he's anything like that little brother of his, I say keep him around."

"Oh, for Kami's sake, Hannah!" Videl said in exasperation. "Look, we're just friends, okay?"

"All right, all right," the housekeeper held up her hands in a warding gesture. "Don't get so upset."

"I'll get upset if I want."

"Now you're just acting like a child."

"So sue me."

"Satan Videl, you do not speak to me in that tone of voice!" Hannah scolded angrily. "That Gohan is a nice boy, and he's obviously concerned about you."

"I could've told you that!" Videl snapped. "Remember what I told you about the mindlink and him calling me out of the darkness?"

"So it stands to reason that there must be something there," Hannah pointed out logically.

"And so what if there is?" Videl yelled. Half an instant after the last letter had left her mouth, she realized exactly what she'd said, and clasped a hand over her mouth, as though by covering her traitorous mouth, she could make the words disappear. She slumped down into a chair that stood in the hallway.

Hannah nodded knowingly, her anger gone. "I know you're still scared, dearling. But as my mother told me after I went through a major heartbreak, 'This, too, shall pass.' Just hold on." The housekeeper leaned forward to look the teenager straight in the eye. "You're scared, and that's all right. But don't push this boy away because of it. He cares about you, sweetheart. And this might just be an old woman talking, but I wouldn't let him get away. Give him half a chance, and I'd be willing to be that you won't regret it."

Videl nodded and rose. "We'll see." Feeling drained, physically and emotionally, she meandered up the stairs towards her own room.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Videl was acting funny," Goten commented as the Son house came into view amidst the trees. "Maybe she's still sick or something."

"Yeah…maybe…" Gohan replied without much force behind his words.

Goten looked suspiciously at his brother. "You don't sound too good. Maybe you got sick too!"

"Yeah…maybe…" the teenager answered; his vocabulary seemed to have diminished to all but those two little words. As soon as they touched down, Goten ran into the house, loudly proclaiming that his brother had caught Videl's mysterious illness.

Gohan walked into his home a little more slowly and set the groceries down on the kitchen counter. After reassuring his mother of his continued good health, he retreated to the safety of the bathroom. With the door locked behind him, he stared at his reflection in the mirror.

In the kitchen, he could still hear Goten insisting that Gohan had been infected with the mysterious disease that had landed Videl in the hospital. A small sigh blew past his lips. _Yeah, Goten, I'm sick. But not the way you think I am. I'm not physically ill. More…heartsick._

AN: *sigh* I have been waiting and waiting to put those Goten moments in a story, and this seemed as good a time as any, if only just to lighten the mood. Let's face it, the kid's adorable!

Next time, on "You're Still You," a panic attack in the middle of the night during a huge storm sends Videl on the run. I'm not sure how far the next chapter will go, but I'm fairly certain that it'll be nice and dramatic and angsty and all that fun stuff.

Just to warn everyone, I probably won't be updating this story again anytime before Sunday because I'm out of town on Saturday doing a big college scholarship thingamabobber. Yay. Fun. Woo-hoo. I hope you enjoyed my latest chapter. I think we're about half done with this tale. Looking at four, maybe five chapters to go, tops. Return to read them if you desire. I won't beg. It's your call. Thanks a mil. Toodles!


	6. Storm

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AN: Back with Chapter Six! The long-awaited talk between Gohan and Videl. I don't own the show DBZ or any of these characters. I'm just borrowing them without the permission of Mr. Akira Toriyama. I also don't own the song "You're Still You," I'm just using it sans permission from Mr. Josh Groban. Wait…when you borrow something without permission, isn't that stealing? …uh-oh…um, read on while I go call a lawyer…yikes…

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Chapter Six—Storm

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One truth always stays the same

You're still you

After all, you're still you

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Every inch of her body burned with a fiery agony. She couldn't move at all, not even to attempt an escape. And then she heard a loud crack, and felt a splitting pain in her head. Then, out of nowhere, the hammer appeared, swinging towards her face in what would almost definitely be a death blow…

"NO!!!" Videl screamed, sitting upright. For about half an instant, the room was silent; then a crack of lightning split the sky and momentarily illuminated her room. She screamed again and actually jumped out of bed in panic. She stumbled halfway across the room before she regained some sense of coherency.

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A nightmare, she told herself over and over again. _It was just a nightmare. You've been having them since IT happened. No different. And it's just a storm…nothing major…_

She began pacing back and forth in her bedroom. Her bare feet made no sound on the carpet. Outside the bolted window, rain pounded down against the glass. Every once in a while, the sky would brighten with a flash of lightning, and a clap of thunder would shake the heavens.

"I'm not scared of storms, I'm not scared of storms," she repeated to herself, still pacing. "I'm a big girl, and big girls don't get scared of something as stupid as a storm." Yeah, she was a big girl. But in her current situation and mindset, she felt like an infant, hiding from the monsters that were said to lurk under the bed, waiting to devour her.

Finally, she stopped walking back and forth, and took a few deep breaths. "Get it together!"

All of a sudden, a hand came from behind her and clasped itself over her mouth.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Videl!" Hannah shook the girl desperately.

Without warning, the teenager's eyes flew open; Videl shrieked as she sat straight upright and managed to fling herself out of the bed and across the room, where her back hit the wall by the window. For a minute, she was completely still, save for her heavy breathing. Outside, the rain was beating against the glass of the window, and lightning and thunder crashed as the storm raged on with full force.

Hannah moved toward the teenager slowly. "Videl? You were screaming in your sleep."

"I…have to go," Videl gasped, at first breathily, then with more confidence. "I have to go. I have to get out of here. Now."

Without stopping to change or even grab a jacket, she flung open the window and jumped out, taking flight right into the tempest.

In the room behind her, Hannah ran to the window and watched her disappear into the heavy rain, calling after her. "Videl!"

But Videl either didn't hear or didn't care.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The cruel wind sent the rain flying into her eyes, like whips across her face. Videl held her arms up in front of her face in an attempt to protect herself from the harsh wind. She couldn't see at all.

__

Well, this was the best idea I've ever had, she thought grimly, going a little higher. She knew she was out of the city because there were no more lights. But other than that, she had nothing to go on. _What to do…what to do…wait!_

She stopped in midair, still protecting her face with her arms, and mentally kicked herself for not thinking of it sooner. It only took a few seconds for her to focus her mind enough to reach. She already knew exactly what she was looking for, since it was one of the few large enough to sense. And after a few more seconds, she picked up several familiar signals, searchlights of ki sprinkled amidst the candles. In an eyeblink, she identified the right one, and headed towards it.

Maybe this wasn't the best plan in the world either, but at least it would get her to a place that was safe, dry, and blessedly warm! Now if she could just get there without getting struck by lightning.

Or freezing to death. It was getting colder, and she was in her pajama pants and a T-shirt. Not exactly the most appropriate attire for being out in a severe storm. Her clothes were already soaked and plastered to her skin, and they didn't help to keep her warm at all.

__

Gotta get there, she told herself, still following her mind's eye towards the familiar ki. _Kami bless Gohan for taking the time to teach me how to do this._

Her mind went off from that thought and began envisioning the next day's headline: _DAUGHTER OF THE WORLD MARTIAL ARTS CHAMPION FOUND DEAD IN THE FOREST AFTER THE STORM. POLICE BAFFLED. CAN'T SOLVE CRIME WITHOUT HER. SAIYAMAN GOES BALLISTIC AND BLOWS UP TWO CONTINENTS. END OF THE WORLD AT HAND._

Oh, this was not good. Not good at all.

So engrossed in what her mind was doing, both the thoughts as to what her fate was likely to be and the navigation it was supposed to be doing, that she didn't realize she had lost quite a bit of altitude. That is, until the window snapped the tree branch into her.

Videl heard the crack, like a whip, and saw it the instant before it lashed across her stomach. It felt like someone had cut at her with a giant razor. She cried out in pain and doubled up, managing to stay in the air while wrapping both arms around her wounded torso.

__

I'm going to die, she thought suddenly. Strangely enough, she wasn't exactly sure how to react to that particularly poisonous little thought. And she didn't have much time to contemplate it, either.

Another tree branch hit her, a much larger one this time. And it hit her hard enough to send her hurtling towards the ground.

Her mind ran through every curse she'd ever heard in her eighteen years, and she closed her eyes. It was so cold, she couldn't get her body to cooperate anymore, and she was beyond caring. She let her mind fog over from exhaustion and cold.

But the impact never came. Or rather, there was an impact, but not what she had expected. The impact wasn't her hitting the hard ground. More like a jerk, as though someone had caught her just before she hit the ground. Whoever her savior was had lifted her back into the air towards safety. The wind and rain were no longer cutting at her face, as if something was shielding her.

Videl didn't bother to open her eyes to see who it was. She was too cold, and too tired. And the darkness behind her eyelids was almost definitely safer.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

A pounding on the door of the Son residence shook the small house. It persisted for about thirty seconds before it finally roused one of the occupants.

A light clicked on in one of the rooms, and a short moment later, a very small person came toddling barefoot out of his bedroom towards the front door. Goten was wearing his favorite pajamas—blue with little pandas on them—and he was rubbing his eyes sleepily. (AN: Cuteness ^-^)

The pounding kept on going. "Hang on, I'm coming," Goten yawned. Still rubbing at his eyes with one hand, he reached up with the other and opened the front door. A large, shadow-cloaked figure was standing there. Holding something.

Holding some_one._ A person.

Most of the drowsiness disappeared from Goten's face, and he smiled. "Hi, Mr. Piccolo! Whatcha doing here so late?"

"Where's your brother?" the Namekian demanded loudly.

"Shhh!" Goten hushed him, holding a single finger in front of his lips to emphasize the need for quiet. "Don't be so loud! Everybody's still sleeping. Hang on, I'll wake Gohan up." The chibi turned around. "Gohan! Mr. Piccolo's here!!" he screamed as loud as he could. Piccolo's sensitive Namekian ears were ringing at the noise.

__

Quiet, my ass, he thought, irritated. _Damn kid._

"Wha?" Gohan's voice, sleep-fogged and slurred, came from down the hallway. "I'm coming…"

A second later, he appeared. Like his brother, he was yawning and rubbing his eyes. "Hey, Piccolo. What brings you here…" his voice trailed off as his eyes fell on what—or rather, who—Piccolo was holding. "Oh my god…what the hell?"

"Watch your language, mister!" Goten admonished in an nearly perfect imitation of their mother, but Gohan ignored the scolding and ran to the door.

Piccolo placed Videl in Gohan's waiting arms. She was shivering and pale, and her teeth were chattering. He honestly wasn't sure if she was conscious or not. Her head lulled against his chest, where her wet hair left a damp spot on his shirt. Gohan looked up at his old sensei. "What in the name of the seven mad gods happened?" Goten was about to protest his brother's cursing again, but he was cut off by Gohan, who suddenly turned to him and said, "Goten. Go wake Mom up. Tell her it's an emergency." The chibi pouted at being sent off as an errand boy, but obeyed, scampering back down the hallway. With the child gone, the teenager's attention returned to the forthcoming story from Piccolo.

"When she decides to wake up, I'd like to know why she was out flying in the forest in the middle of this god-awful storm," the Namekian said in a bored tone; only a faint…_something_ in his eyes reflected any hint of concern at the well-being of this human girl. "I sensed her coming. Thought it was odd, so I went to check it out. Saw her fall out of the air. Caught her. Brought her here. It was the closest and probably the safest. Figured you could take care of her."

Gohan sighed. "Thanks, Mr. Piccolo." He paused, and smirked. "Hey, Mr. Piccolo…"

"If you start singing that ridiculous song, I would advise you to never fall asleep at the Lookout," Piccolo threatened, looking every inch a figure of menace. "If you do, I'll drop you over the edge and see how long it takes you to hit the ground. Then I'll count how many pieces you end up in."

"Gotcha," Gohan nodded. "Do you want to come in? It's terrible out there."

"No thanks," the Namekian shook his head. "I'm going up to the Lookout for a while." Without even a goodbye, Piccolo turned on his heel and took off into the gale.

As Gohan was closing the door, his mother and brother came flying around the corner. She took one look at the still form of Videl cradled in Gohan's arms, and opened her mouth to question.

Gohan spoke first. "I don't know. Piccolo found her, and brought her here. She's freezing."

Son ChiChi nodded, and with the ease of a mother, took charge of the situation. "Goten, run up the closet and get some blankets. Gohan, get her set up on the couch. I don't care if it gets wet. See what you can do about getting her woken up. I'll make some tea." With that, she left her sons to their tasks and disappeared into the kitchen.

Goten scampered off to obey his mother's orders, and a few minutes later, he appeared carrying a stack of blankets taller than he was. "Is this enough?" he asked, his voice muffled because of the bedclothes piled in front of his face.

His brother let out an amused sigh. "Plenty. Thanks, squirt." With the large selection of blankets Goten had brought out, he quickly arranged a warm little nest on the couch and got Videl bundled up. Since coming inside the warm house, her teeth had already stopped chattering, and some of the color had returned to her face. Both good signs.

Goten watched in fascination while Gohan set things up, and when the teenager sank into another chair, the chibi crossed the room and without hesitation crawled into his brother's lap. "What happened to Videl, big brother? Is she sick again?"

"I don't know, squirt."

"Is she gonna spend the night?" Goten's face brightened. "Are we having a sleepover?"

Gohan laughed a little bit. "I don't think that's exactly why she's here. But we'd better be quiet and let her get her sleep. When she wakes up, I'm sure she'll be happy to see you."

"Okay," the chibi nodded excitedly.

ChiChi poked her head out of the kitchen. "Goten, why don't you come in here and help me. I made some hot cocoa for you."

No child could resist that kind of an offer. "Yeah!" Goten jumped off his brother's lap and scurried into the kitchen. ChiChi lingered in the doorway for a moment longer and shot her older son a certain look before she too retreated back into the kitchen.

Now alone, Gohan stood up and crossed the room, where he sat down on the ground beside the couch. Videl's eyes were still closed tightly, and she showed no signs of awakening any time soon. He could have easily woken her up, the same way he'd called her. But he didn't have the heart to. She looked far too peaceful, and he refused to destroy that.

Instead, her just sat there and watched her sleep. _I know what happened to you. Well, I think I do. Why can't you just tell me? Why won't you trust me again? _He didn't send the thoughts along their mind-to-mind bond; much as he was tempted to, they stayed inside his own head.

All of sudden, Videl's face moved. For an instant, he thought she was waking up. But it wasn't that; she was reacting to something in her dreams. And that reaction was a mixture of fear and panic, and everything related to them. Her forehead wrinkled, and her eyes squeezed themselves even more tightly shut.

Without even thinking, Gohan reached out and brushed a few strands of wet black hair off her forehead, letting his fingers linger on her face. _It's just a dream. Nothing in it can hurt you._

As quickly as it had started, her nightmare apparently receded, and her facial expression returned to one of peaceful slumber.

"Whew," Gohan breathed out loud, and pulled his hand back. No sooner had he done did her face constrict again, and the nightmare began anew. Taken by a strange notion, Gohan touched the side of her face again, and whispered to her. "A dream, Videl. Just a dream."

Sure enough, the peaceful look returned. He didn't have the heart to see if it was really working, so he simply sat there, holding her hand and letting her fingers stroke her forehead. If his touch was actually what was warding off her nightmares, then sitting there and watching her was a minuscule price to pay.

He had every intention of sitting up until she awoke, but his body had other ideas, and his eyelids began to droop. After a brief struggle, he discovered he was powerless to keep his eyes open. All the energy seemed to drain from his body, seeping from the bottom of his feet and oozing into a puddle on the floor around him. It was a losing battle.

Gohan finally gave up, and fell asleep with his head resting on one arm on the couch. Videl's fingers were still interlocked with his free hand.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

__

Uh…where am I? Videl thought drowsily. Her eyes didn't quite want to open, not just yet. She tried to move her arms, and found that she could only work one of them; the other seemed to be trapped by her side. Her hair and clothes felt wet. How bizarre. _Okay…I was flying through the storm. Stupid, stupid, stupid! But where am I now?_

Wherever she was, it was warm, and whatever she was laying on, it was soft and comfortable. And that confused her to no end. _I remember falling…did I pass out all night? Is the sun up? But the ground wouldn't be this soft. Where the hell am I, and what the hell happened?_

Finally, she willed her eyes to open, and found herself looking into a dimly-lit room. The faint light came from a room next door; when she strained her ears, she could catch snippets of conversation. The room seemed very familiar.

When it hit her, she could have smacked herself for not recognizing her surroundings the minute she'd opened her eyes. This was the Son house. But how had she gotten here?

__

Maybe I should leave, she pondered. _It doesn't seem like there's anyone in here. But there's someone in the kitchen. Maybe I can sneak out…_

It was only when she tried to sit up that she realized she was nearly buried under a pile of heavy blankets. That explained why she was so warm. One blanket was wrapped tightly around her; that was the reason she couldn't move one of her arms, since it was trapped between the blanket and her body. Her other arm was free, though, and she lifted her hand to try and pull some of the covers off of her.

But there was something in her hand. Namely, another person's hand.

She followed the arm to find the owner. Gohan was zonked out next to the couch; he must have fallen asleep, holding one of her hands. It was truly adorable.

__

How long have I been here? she wondered. _Long enough for him to fall asleep, I guess._

It took a little effort, but she managed to free herself from the blankets and crawl over the back of the couch. From there, it was just a few steps to the door.

But just as she opened the front door, with every intention of slipping out and escaping, a crack of lightning shot across the sky. The storm still raged. And she knew from her very recent experience that running out into a gale this huge was definitely _not_ a good idea.

"You shouldn't go out there," a familiar voice said behind her in an echo of her thoughts. "It's pretty bad. Dangerous to fly through."

"Yeah, I know," she replied without really thinking as she pushed the door closed. Then, slowly, realization dawned, and she spun around.

"Sneaking out?" Gohan asked, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. Okay, so she hadn't gotten away unnoticed. "It's dangerous."

She drew herself up to her full height, even though her back was flat against the closed door, and looked at him with what she hoped was defiance. "I could make it if I had to."

"Which you don't," he countered. "And I warn you, if you try, I will come after you. You're stuck here until the storm stops."

So she was stuck. Damn. "You can't tell me what to do," she argued indignantly, even though she already knew that she had lost this fight.

"Whatever you say, Videl," he replied, jumping over the back of the couch to take a seat. She hadn't moved from up against the wall throughout their whole exchange; slowly, she took a step forward, and eased away from the door, heading towards the next room. The light was still on in there, and she poked her head in to see what was up.

Goten was dozing over a mug, and ChiChi was watching him calmly, sipping at her own beverage. Videl smiled at the scene before retreating; neither of them noticed she had even been there. Or so she thought and hoped.

Unsure of what else to do, she wandered back towards the couch where Gohan was still sitting. He turned his head lazily to watch her come in. She chose a seat across the room, and curled up in a nice, comfortable chair. From this vantage point, she glared angrily at Gohan. After a few minutes of tense silence, she finally asked a question. "How did I get here?"

"Piccolo found you," he supplied. "He said he saw you fall out of the air, so he caught you and brought you here, figuring we would be able to take care of you."

"Not like Piccolo to play nursemaid," Videl muttered.

"Not at all," he said. Ever since he'd stopped her at the door, he hadn't displayed a single emotion, nor had he given any real reactions to anything she had said to him. He was carefully schooling his expression as well. But for what purpose?

__

He's trying to get something out of me, Videl finally realized. _Well, I'm not delivering._

"Why won't you let me leave?" she asked in a voice sharp enough to shave with.

"It won't do anyone any good if you go flying out into a huge storm and break your neck," he answered. "A lot of people would be very upset if you went and got yourself killed."

"So I'm a prisoner? Is that it?" she surged to her feet without even realizing it.

ChiChi came out of the kitchen, carrying a sleeping Goten. She watched the scene for a moment, then headed towards her room. She took Goten with her. Let the children figure this out between them. Besides, she was absolutely exhausted.

"You're not a prisoner," Gohan told her calmly. "I just don't want them to find you dead on the ground tomorrow morning."

"This isn't fair!" she protested.

He finally rose to his feet. "Maybe, maybe not. But then again, I don't think it's fair that you won't tell me why you're afraid of me."

The angry words that had been on the tip of Videl's tongue fell off and bounced, unspoken, across the floor. Her fury dissolved in an instant to be replaced by surprise. "What?"

"I didn't miss anything, Videl," his shell cracked for the first time. "You're scared to death, and it has something to do with me."

"It has nothing to do with you," she retorted, trying to get her bearings back. Suddenly this conversation was _not_ going the way she wanted it to.

"Really?" he took a step towards her. She swallowed hard, and when he got close enough, she snapped, and threw a punch at his face. He caught her wrist easily, and held it. When she tried the other hand, he caught that as well, and he didn't seem at all willing to let go. And still, nothing registered on his face. No reaction, no emotion, nothing.

"Let go!" she demanded.

Still no reaction.

"God damn it, Gohan!" she attempted to pull her hands free, but he didn't yield. She was about ready to start kicking when he spoke.

"What did he do to you, Videl?" he asked softly, solemnly.

She froze and stared at him. He…knew? How could he possibly know?

He answered the unspoken question, as though he had simply read her mind; his expression finally changed to one of blatant unhappiness. "The bond. When you were unconscious, and I called you back, there were images, floating right on top of your memory. It was pretty hard to miss." His face changed again, this time hardening to anger. "If the police find out who it is, I swear I'll kill him."

And it was true. This was one of the few times in his life that Son Gohan had truly wanted to kill someone. He wanted nothing more than to make that sonofabitch pay tenfold for what he'd done. But now, he simply waited for Videl's reaction.

Slowly, her face crumpled, and she burst into tears. He let go of her wrists and wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed helplessly into his shoulder. She didn't seem to even really realize that he was there anymore; she just cried as though her heart was broken.

Gohan said nothing, but let her go. This had to be done, no matter how painful it was. Even if his own heart felt about ready to shatter at her pain. He could sense it in the shadings and nuances he was picking up through scant mind-to-mind contact. With her physical shields down enough for her to cry, her mental shields had dropped as well.

The little house in the mountains became an oasis as the gale raged on outside. It seemed like they stood there for ages, until finally Videl had managed to cry herself out. When that happened, she pulled back and immediately began trying to wipe the traces of tears from her face. Her eyes were red and burned, her nose was stuffed up, and her head hurt.

"Gods, I feel like an idiot," she cursed, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. "And I probably look like one, too. Ugh…"

"I wouldn't say that," Gohan replied, watching her with a raised eyebrow. "I'd say you just look like you've been crying for a while."

She glared sardonically at him, then looked down at the floor. "So…you knew?"

"Enough to make me want to kill the guy if I ever got my hands on him," he said flatly. It was the only way he could keep the rage from his voice.

Videl looked ready to ask another question when a crash of thunder shook the sky, making them both jump a mile. And about half a second later, another familiar sound was heard. The sound of a frightened chibi, searching for comfort.

"Gohan!" Goten's panicked voice drifted down to where they were standing. He sounded absolutely frantic. Then they heard doors open and closing.

The teenaged demi-Saiyan chuckled. "I'm down here, squirt."

Seconds later, Goten emerged and dove at his brother. "Protect me!"

ChiChi followed a minute later. "Everyone all right?"

The two teenagers nodded. Goten's head was buried in Gohan's shoulder, so his response was a muffled, "Yeah. Found brother." Satisfied, ChiChi retreated.

With the mother out of the room, Goten turned a suspicious glare on the two teens. "Were you having a sleepover without me?"

Videl managed a weak smile. "Not exactly. We were just…talking."

"'bout what?" the chibi asked.

"Boring stuff," Gohan supplied, earning a look from Videl. "Grown-up stuff."

"Yuck!" Goten wrinkled his nose in displeasure. "Boring! Goodnight!" He jumped out of his brother's arms and ran to the door, where he stopped and turned. "If the storm gets scary again, I'll come find you. Kay?" Upon affirmation, he left.

Videl half walked, half staggered across the room and collapsed into the nest of blankets that was still arranged on the couch. "I feel…like hell…" she groaned.

Gohan took a seat on the other side of the sofa. "You don't look like hell," he commented. "I always thought hell was a lot bigger, with monsters and stuff. First of all, you're not that big, and secondly, you don't look like a monster."

"I feel like one," she sighed, pulling a blanket tightly around her. "I feel like a monster."

"Why?"

She looked at him miserably, though she wouldn't look him in the eye. "You guys all had to suffer because of me. Goten told me you were worried sick. That poor kid is freaked out, too. He thinks I'm really sick. I bet he's starting to wonder if I'm gonna die or something. And now you're losing sleep."

He raised an eyebrow. "Ah, what's a little lost sleep between friends?"

"This whole damn thing is my fault!" she exploded suddenly; it was obviously something she had been waiting to say for quite some time.

"What?" Gohan said in disbelief. "What the hell do you mean, it's your fault?"

"I had a feeling something bad would happen that day," Videl admitted. "And I totally ignored it. I should have paid attention to it. But what do I do? Go storming off by myself. Not paying attention at all, giving that guy quite a nice opportunity to jump me. Then I couldn't even get it together enough to throw that sonofabitch off. I did everything wrong…it's all my fault…" She put her face in her hands.

"No, no, no…" he slid over and put one arm slowly around her shoulders, not sure how she would react to it. "Was it your fault that guy came into your house?"

"No…" she sniffled, looking near tears again.

"Was it your fault he was in your room?"

"No…"

"Was it your fault he did what he did?" When she didn't answer, he went on. "No. It wasn't. None of this was your fault, and I'm going to tell you that until you believe it. Don't ever, _ever_ let yourself believe that you're to blame for this. _Ever_."

She turned her head, and for the first time in quite a long while, she looked him straight in the eye. "I'm sorry this has been such a pain for you."

He shrugged. "Hey, what are friends for?"

"What did I do to deserve a friend like you?" Videl asked.

"I don't know. Tell me your life story," he teased. "We'll see if we can figure it out."

She laughed at that, and it was music to Gohan's ears.

Suddenly, Gohan became aware of a presence nearby. He turned and peered over his shoulder to see if he could spot the intruder. Sure enough, Goten was peeking through the doorway.

*We've got a spy,* he said, switching from a verbal conversation to mental.

*Hmm…* she replied. *I see. I say we call him out.*

*Sounds like a plan,* Gohan laughed. "Hey, squirt, we know you're there."

"Aww!" Goten whined. "No fair!"

"Very fair, you little spy," Videl pointed out. "You shouldn't be snooping."

The chibi made a face at her, then turned his attention to his brother. "Hey Gohan?"

"Yeah?"

"Were you gonna kiss her?"

"WHAT?!?" Gohan yelped in surprise as he jumped to his feet. He was across the room in three steps. "Go back to bed, you little meddler." He shooed the chibi out of the room.

Videl smiled. "He's so cute. You should see the picture he drew for me when I was sick."

"I did," Gohan informed her. "He kept showing it to me, asking if I thought you would like it. I always said yes, but he just didn't seem to be satisfied with that." He paused, then shook his head. "Was I gonna kiss her…good gods, what kind of a question was that?"

"Beats me," Videl said with a yawn. "And at the moment, I don't care what kind of a question that was. I'm tired. Mind if I keep the couch?"

"Go for it," he yawned as well. "But I don't think I can move."

"Shut up," she said, pulling a pillow up onto the arm of the couch and putting her head on it. "I'm sleeping. Do what you want."

After a few minutes, her slow, even breathing told Gohan that she was asleep. He simply sat there and watched her for a moment, but no more nightmares came.

Slowly, he leaned over and brushed his lips against the side of her face, hoping and praying that she wouldn't wake up. But she simply sighed in her sleep.

"Goodnight, Videl," he whispered into her ear, then got comfortable and settled in to try and sleep. Before he dozed off, though, he did one final thing. *Hey, anyone there?"

A start, then, *Everything okay down there, kid?*

*I think we're good. Thanks a ton, Mr. Piccolo.*

*No problem, kid. Just don't always expect me to babysit you guys,* Piccolo growled. *I hated babysitting when I had to deal with you, and I don't like it any better now.*

*Yes sir!* he laughed. *Well, I'm going to sleep now, so I'll talk to you probably tomorrow.*

*Sleep?*

*Piccolo!*

*Just making sure.*

*Ugh. That was a Vegeta question! Stop hanging around Vegeta!*

*He's good conversation. Talking about the good old days when we used to brutally maim and kill hundreds of innocent bystanders just because we felt like it.*

*Good-bye, Piccolo.*

*Whatever.*

__

Sometimes I wonder about that guy, Gohan thought vaguely as he finally settled into sleep. And outside, the storm finally broke.

AN: Longest single chapter I've ever written for anything. I'm proud o' me. Anyway, great to be back. My scholarship deal went pretty well, I think. Should find out how well later this week. Plus, the jazz band trip I missed for my college deal also went well. Jazz I got first! Yay! Praise them, I say! Okay, just had to brag a little tiny bit. Hopefully, I'll have another update soon.


	7. What's Still to Come

****

AN: Okay, I've got a radical idea for a few of my reviewers. If you think this is cliché, or just don't like this kind of story, here's a suggestion…_DON'T READ IT! _Simple, yet effective! I'm not trying to bitch or anything, but geez, don't bite my head off…anyhoo, on with the story. I don't own DBZ or the song.

****

Chapter Seven—Still To Come

__

I look up to everything you are

In my eyes you do no wrong

And I believe in you

Although you never asked me to

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As she began to stir back to the world of wakefulness, Videl became aware of someone's eyes boring into her. She shook the last remnants of sleep from her mind and opened her eyes.

Goten was hanging on the back of the couch, watching her intently.

"Good morning," she smiled at him.

He didn't smile back. "You had a sleepover and you didn't invite me?"

"Oh…um, we were going to invite you," Videl improvised, sensing that the chibi was very much offended by this trangression. "But we fell asleep before we could. I'm sorry, kiddo."

A smile broke onto Goten's face. "That's okay. Next time!"

__

Next time? Videl unconsciously raised an eyebrow. She shot a glance at Gohan, who was still fast asleep on the other end of the couch. _I'm not sure if there's gonna be a next time…_

Slowly, she pushed herself up into a sitting position, biting back a groan as several muscles stretched out of their unnatural positions. Blinking owlishly, she looked around the room. The storm that had trapped her in this house the night before was gone, and sunlight streamed in through the window, forming a little pool of light on the floor and brightening the room. It was a very different picture from the one she had seen last night.

__

I wonder when the storm stopped, she pondered briefly, but didn't linger on it for very long. Her eyes drifted back over towards Gohan. He was still sound asleep. _Aw, look at him. He looks so innocent when he's asleep. How cutes…wait…did I just say cute?_

She heaved a sigh and with a little effort stood up; stretching her arms out over her head, she meandered towards the kitchen. Sounds emanating from that room told her that someone was up and about in there. Hopefully, that someone was preparing something by way of food.

__

Gods, I'm starting to sound like Goten. Letting my stomach rule my head, she smiled inwardly as she entered the room. "Morning, ChiChi."

The older woman turned and bestowed a welcoming smile on the teen. "Did Goten wake you up? I told that kid to leave you two alone and let you get some sleep."

"No, no, I was already awake."

"Okay. Feeling better?" ChiChi asked conversationally, turning back to whatever it was she was mixing on the counter.

"Yeah, actually, I am," Videl said as she took a seat at the table and watched the mother bustle around, preparing a meal for two hungry Saiyans and two normal people.

"Hungry?"

"Affirmative."

"Good. I'm making plenty."

Goten chose that moment to come bobbing into the kitchen. "Is breakfast ready yet, Mommy?"

"Not quite," ChiChi replied without missing a beat. Goten pouted for a moment before turning and skipping back out of the kitchen. "Welcome to our mornings."

"Hmm…" Videl murmured. "Sorry I dropped in like that last night."

"Not a problem," ChiChi reassured her, moving briskly around the kitchen. "Goku's friends used to be in and out of this house like nothing else. Threatening them didn't seem to work, since they always needed to talk to Goku about something right away or else the world was doomed, blah blah blah…" The speech ended with an good-natured sigh and an irritated eye roll.

Videl giggled. "Sounds like this was a real party house."

ChiChi rolled her eyes again. "So…you and Gohan get things worked out?"

"Um…yeah, we did," Videl looked down at the table. "We talked for a while."

"He's been worried sick about you," ChiChi commented. "Worried enough that he hasn't been eating very much."

"Oh gods!" Videl swore, putting her head down on the table. "Crap…now I feel terrible!" Gohan not eating was absolutely unthinkable. What had she been doing to the poor guy?

"Don't feel bad," the demi-Saiyan commented, staggering into the kitchen.

"Speak of the devil," ChiChi teased. "Good morning!"

"I'm supposed to tell you that if breakfast isn't ready soon, Goten's going to run away from home and join the circus," Gohan dropped into his seat at the table and rubbed at his eyes.

"That boy needs to learn some patience," the mother sighed. "What did you say to him?"

"I said we'd come see him in the monkey act," Gohan replied with a yawn. "He seemed to be a little upset about that wisecrack."

"You two…" ChiChi set a humongous stack of pancakes down in front of her older son.

A few seconds later, Goten came into the room; he was floating, sticking his neck forward so his nose could follow the delicious smell. "I…smell…food…"

"I thought you were joining the circus," Videl teased.

"I was, but breakfast is ready now," Goten answered matter-of-factly, landing in his own seat. "Food food food food food!" ChiChi shook her head as she gave her younger son his breakfast. A few minutes later, she was seated at the table as well; both she and Videl were enjoying slightly smaller servings than the two of Saiyan descent.

It was as Videl was plodding through her food that a terrible thought struck her. She jumped to her feet. "Ohmigod! Can I use your phone?"

As soon as the okay was given by a confused-looking ChiChi, Videl grabbed the phone and dialed a number. The entire Son family watched her curiously.

"Come on…come on…" she whispered, listening to the ringing. After an eternity, a familiar female voice came on the end of the line. "Satan residence."

"Hannah?"

"Videl? Thank Kami!" the older woman cried. "Where are you, you demon-child?"

"Um…it's kind of a long story, but I'm at a friend's house," the teen replied, looking over at Gohan. He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. "Listen, does Dad know I'm gone?"

"Not yet. I think he's still snoring," Hannah replied wryly. "You might want to come home before he finds out you flew the coop. Otherwise, the only one who knows is Donovan." Donovan was the Satan family butlet. "And I'd trust him to keep what he knows behind his teeth even under torture. You're safe."

"I'll be home soon, I guess. Can you open my bedroom window for me? I'll come in through there," Videl said, feeling immensely relieved that her absence hadn't been discovered. "It'll be a lot less conspicuous. If Daddy finds out I left, he'll have a cat."

"Can do. Just hurry."

"Roger."

"By the way, when do I get to really meet this Gohan friend of yours?"

"_Goodbye_, Hannah."

Videl hung up and turned to face the Sons with a big grin on her face. "All's well. Nobody at my house knows I was gone last night. Well…nobody who would tell anyone. But I have to hurry unless I want someone to find out, and that might be a really bad thing." She bestowed a measuring gaze on Gohan. "Wanna come? Hannah wants to interrogate you…I mean, talk to you."

Gohan's eyebrows went even higher. If they kept getting raised like that, they were bound to make a permanent vacation home in his hair. "She wants to interrogate me? Why?"

"Don't worry, you met her that one time. You know she's nice. She won't eat you alive or anything. Just wants to get to know you," Videl said innocently. "I'm the daughter she never had, and she's been my adoptive mother for almost my whole life. She wants to meet you, I don't argue."

"All right, all right!" he held up his hands in defeat and stood up. "Ready when you are."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ten minutes later, the two teenagers were airborne, shooting through the sky towards Satan City.

"We're going in my bedroom window," Videl called. "Less chance of someone seeing us and realizing I was gone. Hannah said she'll be waiting."

"Got it," he called back. "I'm a little nervous about what she might ask me."

"You should be," Videl teased. "She's absolutely terrifying!"

"If she asks me about my whole life story, I might break down and cry," he replied wryly. "And to hell with who hears me."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, by the way, here. Take this." She threw something small at him.

He caught it easily and looked at it. "Isn't this your communicator?"

"Yup. That's how the police contact me when they need me," she confirmed. "I called them yesterday after you and Goten left and told them I was going to take a break to get everything straight in my life again. And I told them I'd be giving my communicator to Saiyaman the next time I saw him, so the city wouldn't be without a hero. When I told them that, they seemed pretty relieved. So you're on call now. Not me." She looked at him. "Is that okay?"

"Fine with me!" he strapped the tiny radio onto his arm, right next to his Saiyaman watch. "Criminals of Satan City, beware!"

Videl laughed. The rest of the way there, they didn't talk too much.

As the mansion came into view, Videl unconsciously held her breath. They were taking enough of a chance flying over the city. But luckily, it was still fairly early, so there wouldn't be too many people out and about who might see them.

By being extremely careful and with a little bit of luck, they managed to get to her house without any incident; Videl touched down on the windowsill and motioned for him to follow her. He landed without making a sound, and they both jumped down into the bedroom.

Hannah was indeed waiting, nervously pacing back and forth. When they entered the room, she immediately descended on Videl. "Thank Kami you're back! I was going crazy! Flying off into the storm like that…young lady, you could have been killed! Do you have any idea what that would do to everyone, if you were killed like that?"

"Saiyaman probably would have blown up a continent or two," Videl replied sardonically, recalling her thoughts from the night before. "And the police wouldn't have been able to solve the crime without me, since I do all the work anyway."

Hannah glared at her for a moment, then finally dropped her angry façade. "You're going to be the death of me, dearheart. You know that, don't you?"

"Well, I remember when your hair was still brown," Videl teased. "Those gray hairs are the result of years of hard work!"

Gohan cleared his throat clumsily; he'd been standing there for a long moment in silence while Videl was scolded by her housekeeper. The way that they looked at him, they might have actually forgotten he was there for a moment. "Um, if you don't need me anymore, I'll just be go—"

"Not a chance," Hannah said firmly. She pointed to a chair up against another wall. "Sit. Now."

Her mannerism at that moment, coupled with the way she took charge, gave Gohan chills; with the exception of Videl, no one had ever reminded him so much of his mother. He immediately obeyed, taking the proffered chair, and waiting for the interrogation to begin.

"So…Gohan, is it?" she asked, pacing back and forth in front of him. Her expression was stern, but her eyes were dancing, so he knew she was just kidding. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen, ma'am," he replied, sketching a salute. He instinctively liked this woman.

Apparently, she liked him as well. The things she asked were fairly basic—she wanted to know about his family, grades, other friends, hobbies, and things like that.

"All right, we're going on to the real question now," she said menacingly. "Tell me your whole life story, starting from when you were born."

Videl, who had been watching this whole scenario, actually groaned and clasped a hand over her eyes. She was thinking back to what she and Gohan had talked about earlier during their flight to this house. "Hannah, please!"

To her surprise, Gohan was perfectly calm. "Well, I was born at an early age, and I was raised until I was as old as I am now," he replied easily, tapping his chin with his finger in thought. The attempt at the joke felt very daring.

And the attempt at the joke was quite successful. Hannah threw her head back and laugh. "All right, you have my seal of approval. And that little brother of yours is wonderful."

Much to Videl's surprise, Gohan actually blushed a little. "So…what was this for?"

"Just getting to know you," she shot Videl a look that Gohan couldn't _quite_ read. But it seemed that whatever secret message was conveyed between the two women in that glance was perfectly clear to Videl. Then it was her turn to blush.

But before anyone could say anything else, a familiar bellow came from the hallway. "Videl? Are you awake yet, sweet pea?"

"Crap!" Videl cursed under her breath so as not to be heard. "Gohan, you'd better get outta here before he comes in. If he sees you…"

"He'll probably punch you in the face, knock you out cold, and then call the police," Hannah whispered. "Leave. Out the window."

"Got it," Gohan ran to the window as Hercule's ki came closer. "See you guys later." Without waiting for either of them to say goodbye, he took off.

Not three seconds later, Hercule burst into the room. "Good morning, sweet pea!"

Videl managed to keep herself from rolling her eyes. "Morning, Dad."

"I thought I heard voices in here," Hercule bellowed, looking around suspiciously.

"Oh, I was just talking to Hannah!" Videl said quickly, thankful that the housekeeper was still in the room. It was an easy and believable story.

The World Champion's gaze fell on the older woman, who was closing the window on the other side of the room, and the suspicion disappeared from his eyes.

Hannah smiled knowingly. "Just letting a little fresh air in the room."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After the events of the night before, the rest of Videl's day seemed boring. After all, what could possibly compare to flying out into the storm of the century, nearly getting yourself killed, being rescued by an alien, bawling your eyes out on a friend's shoulder, and ending up falling asleep on the couch in that friend's living room? Not much.

It was later that day when the phone call came. The light of dawn was fading into twilight. It was a time that always made Videl nervous, since that was the way the sky had looked when…

She tried not to think about it anymore. There were other things she could think about now.

Like Gohan, for instance. She was thinking about him a lot lately, only now she didn't start shaking like a wind-tossed leaf when he came to her mind.

Or she could think about the fact that she had finally seen Sharpner and Erasa, for the first time since her hospitalization. Sharpner had come bearing most of the schoolwork she had missed; Erasa came bearing loads of gossip. Surprisingly, they hadn't asked too many questions. They had stayed for about an hour, filling her in on everything she'd missed.

Or, along the same line, she could think about her return to school. It would come soon. She only hoped that there wouldn't be too many awkward questions asked. Also, there was that huge stack of work she needed to catch up on. But that wasn't too much of a problem. If she asked, she was sure Gohan would be perfectly willing to help her out.

And so, having completed a full circle, her thoughts were back on Gohan when the phone rang. She ignored it, assuming correctly that Hannah or Donovan or someone would pick it up.

Sure enough, Hannah came into the room with a cordless phone in hand. She looked alarmed. "Videl, it's for you. It's someone from the police department. Said it's important."

Videl got up out of her nice, comfortable chair—the very chair Gohan had been confined to during his "interrogation"—and crossed the room to take the phone. "Hello?"

"Videl?" a female voice said on the other end of the line.

Videl thought she recognized it. "Michelle? Is that you?"

"Yes, and I have news for you," the officer said. She sounded nervous.

"What's up?" Videl asked amiably. She felt better than she had in weeks.

"We got him."

The teenager froze. For what felt like a long time, the line was silent as Videl attempted to process what she had just heard. Finally, she squeaked out a few syllables. "You…got…him?"

"Caught the bastard in the act," the officer, Michelle, confirmed. She went on with a few more details, such as the man's name and such, but Videl didn't actually hear a word of it.

Finally, Videl shook herself out of her daze and asked, "How did you get him?"

"He broke into a house and jumped another woman, same as he did to you. Exact same MO," Michelle said. "Well, he apparently didn't count on this woman's husband coming home early. He heard noises, called the police on his cell phone, and then went in and got the bastard just before he took off out a window. Held him until we got there."

Videl listened with one hand over her mouth in shock. "Oh gods…what else?" She didn't know why she felt compelled to ask for the rest of the details.

"He…he hit her with a hammer, same as you," Michelle said hesitantly. "And…"

"And what? Tell me!"

The officer hesistated.

"Please! I need to know!"

Another moment of hesitation. Then, very softly, Michelle told her. "He killed her. She died en route to the hospital from the head injury."

The phone fell out of Videl's hand and clattered to the carpet by her feet. She stared straight ahead, her face completely blank.

From the receiver on the floor, a small voice was heard. "Videl? Videl? Are you there?"

Slowly, she picked up the phone and put it back against her ear. "Sorry…is there anything else?"

"Well, you might like to know that when we got the call, we gave Saiyaman a ring. He answered your communicator, all right. Told him what was up. When he got there…damn, I thought he was going to kill that guy. I really did. I've never seen Saiyaman so angry. He punched him—sent him right through a wall. He was furious. Actually started glowing. Well, after that, the bastard was blubbering like an idiot. Scared to death. Confessed everything. He's not getting off."

Videl could actually picture that. And she knew that, given the opportunity, Gohan very well might have killed that sonofabitch. But she didn't say that. Instead, she just said, "Thanks Michelle. Keep me posted, okay?"

"Can do. Take care. We miss you!"

"Thanks. Bye."

Videl pushed the button to turn the phone off, and let it fall again. Then she wrapped both arms around her stomach to try and block out a cold that was purely internal.

"What? What is it?" Hannah asked, picking up the receiver.

"They got him," Videl said flatly. "They got him."

"What happened?"

Quickly, Videl filled her in on the story she'd gotten from Michelle. "She said that when Saiyaman got there, he went berserk. He almost killed the guy!"

"Well, Saiyaman is concerned about you, I'm sure," Hannah said. "Does he know what happened to you, exactly?"

"Yes, he does," Videl smiled weakly. "After all, Saiyaman and Gohan are one and the same."

Hannah's jaw dropped. "That nice boy? I'm sorry, but I just can't picture him going crazy."

The doorbell rang at that moment, making them both jump. A few minutes later, Donovan appeared in the doorway. "Ms. Videl, there's a visitor here to see you. A young man. He says it's urgent."

Before he had finished his last sentence, Videl was already past him and running down the stairs towards the front door. She slid around the corner, and came face to face with Gohan.

"The police just called," Videl whispered. "They got him."

"I know. I was there," he said.

"That's what they said. They also said you nearly killed him," she pointed out.

He looked down. "I lost my temper. Sent him through a wall." Then he looked back up at her, right into her eyes. "Are you okay?"

In response, she walked forward and put her arms around his waist. "I've been working with the police long enough to know that this is only going to get worse from here. Trial, sentencing, that whole stupid process. I wish it would all go away."

His arms circled her shoulders. "I doubt it'll go away, no matter what you do. You just have to hang in there and show that sonofabitch that he can't beat you." He sounded angry.

It was the first time she could remember ever hearing him really swear, but it didn't matter too much to her at that point. He was offering comfort, and there was no way in hell she was going to refuse that at a time like this.

And a few feet away, in a nearby hallway, an older woman smiled knowingly as she turned and walked back towards the kitchen. Hannah sighed happily; this was definitely more than a high school fling. Those two were perfect for each other.

All they had to do was survive what was still to come.

AN: Yay! Another completed chapter! Sorry the updates are becoming farther between. I'm going against my principles and juggling two stories at once. But this story is almost done. I won't know until I write it, but the next chapter might be the last, or it might be the second to last. Not sure. We'll see. Ciao!


	8. Closure

****

AN: Howdy, all. Hey, Gohan/Videl4Ever, feel free to bug me about another story. People bugging me is what keeps me going ^-^ Oh, and may I point out one of my company policies? I DON'T LISTEN TO ANONYMOUS FLAMERS! Constructive criticism is one thing, but I ignore the comments and use the flames to keep me warm, cuz Iowa winters are very cold. Soo…yeah. You can stop chewing me anyway, because I did manage to wrap everything up in this chapter. Yup, it's over, folks. And like I said in the very beginning, no guarantees on closure. Decide for yourselves.

Yah, we be back with da chapter 8. Don't Z own I Dragonball. Clear? Good, because next is going to be the statement "I don't own the song 'You're Still You' by Josh Groban"…in an anagram! Or maybe not!

****

Chapter Eight—Closure

__

I will remember you

And what life put you through

And in this cruel and lonely world

I found one love

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

__

Okay…you can do this. Just look at the floor, you'll be fine… Videl told herself, closing her hand around the doorknob. Taking one more deep breath, she pushed open the door and walked into the classroom. The teacher, who had been lecturing, stopped in midsentence. Every eye in the room fell on her with an almost audible thunk.

She swallowed hard, and walked into the room, trying to appear confident. She walked up to the teacher and handed him two things: a note from the office, and a folder stuffed with most of the work she'd missed. Gohan had been kind enough to give up his weekend and sit in the library, tutoring her and getting her caught up. As far as Videl was concerned, he officially qualified for sainthood.

"Welcome back, Miss Satan. Nice to see you again," her teacher said with a warm smile. "We all hope you're feeling better?"

"Yes, sir," Videl replied, surprised that the confidence was no longer feigned. It was really there. She almost felt like her old self again, but she was still nervous.

"Hey, girl," Erasa whispered as Videl dropped into her seat. She just smiled and glanced across the room at two others.

Sharpner waved and grinned. Much as he could be a pain sometimes, according to Erasa, he'd actually been worried about her. He was a jerk, but she was thankful for him.

Gohan smiled, and flashed her a thumbs up. When the teacher began lecturing again, he seemingly returned his attention to what was being said.

But a few minutes later, a note was slid along the table. Erasa took it and passed it along. Videl glanced down, picked up the paper, and sneaked it into her lap, where she unfolded it. She recognized the neat handwriting immediately, and chuckled to herself at the words.

__

Why did the chicken cross the road? Sorry, thought you could use a cheap laugh.

She pulled out a pen and wrote underneath it, _You're a nerd, Son,_ and passed it back.

A moment later, it was returned with another message from Gohan. _Actually, that's wrong. The real answer is to get to the other side._

Videl smiled. Ah, it was great to be back. Even if there was something looming on the horizon that she really didn't want to have to think about.

The trial was coming up.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Shaddup…" Videl muttered into her pillow, trying to make the incessant beeping that had invaded her dreams go away, but it persisted. Finally, with a groan, she slapped a hand down on top of the alarm clock, stopping the beeping. And with an even louder sigh, she heaved herself into a sitting position and looked around the room.

It was way too early to be awake. At least, by most normal human standards it was. But she didn't have much choice in the matter. Today was a big day, even though the reason it was so big was something she would have very cheerfully forgone.

Today was the start of the trial. Not only was she going to be present for the whole thing, but she was going to be called to testify. It was more of a formality, since Saiyaman had scared the man into confessing everything, but it had to be done in order to determine sentencing. She wasn't looking forward to it at all. They were going to ask her to relive one of the most terrifying moments of her life, and expect her to just do it. Nope. Not something she was exactly excited about.

Okay, to say she wasn't looking forward to it would be the understatement of the millenium.

__

Someone…give me…tranquilizers…sleep… she thought sleepily, dragging her tired body out of bed and across the room to her closet. In keeping with the settings she would be finding herself in today, her normal school clothes weren't quite going to fit the bill.

Videl hated dressing up. She always had, and she suspected that she always would. But she was going to be in court, and jeans were most likely not appropriate. So she had resigned herself to wearing soemthing nice and, after a bit of deliberation, she selected an outfit.

"Kami bless whoever invented the little black dress," she murmured, examining her choice. Simple, knee-length black sheath-dress. "Even I can't mess up this look."

Getting dressed didn't take long at all, and she slumped down into a chair to study herself in the mirror. The face that looked back was—in her opinion—enough to break the mirror. She looked like Cell reborn, and she felt like she'd just pulled three all-nighters in a row, studying.

"Let's see what I can do with you," she said to her reflection. She picked up a brush and set about trying to tame her messy black hair.

Then she heard the phone ring.

And she groaned. Lately, that accursed ringing chime had been nothing but a harbringer of doom for her. Quite frankly, she was getting sick of that annoying jingle. But she focused on her reflection, figuring that as usual, one of the servants would answer it. They were always up early; more than once, she'd told Hannah that the hours the Satan household employees kept were positively ungodly.

The ringing stopped, and she sighed with relief. Moments later, something happened that she had come to dread. There was a tap on the door, and when it opened, Hannah poked her head in. "Videl, honey? I know you're going to kill me for saying this, but it's for you."

Videl groaned, but got up and took the phone. As she put it to her ear, Hannah commented. "Well, don't you look nice. Trying to turn someone's head?"

The teenager rolled her eyes. The housekeeper knew exactly why Videl was all dressed up, but she wasn't letting up on the Gohan issue at all. So Videl simply did the obvious: she ignored the wisecrack and started talking to whoever was on the other end of the line. "Hello?"

She listened for a minute, muttering things such as "Yes," and "Uh-huh," and "I see," every few seconds. Then, "So, what are you saying exactly?" Then she listened again.

Videl suddenly went very pale, and her eyes became very wide. She gasped, clapped a hand over her mouth, and all but collapsed into a chair. "You're kidding…oh gods…" She was silent for a minute again. "But…how? No…" she groaned. "…okay…thank you…okay…goodbye…" There was a beep as the phone was shut off and a thunk as it fell to the carpet. She sat back in the chair and put her face in her hands, shaking her head.

"Videl, what is it?" Hannah asked from the doorway. She sounded concerned.

"I have to change. I have to go…out for a while…" the teenager said in a flat monotone; as she spoke, she stood up, shakily, and walked back across the room towards the closet.

It took her a little longer to change this time; her hands were shaking so hard she had trouble holding onto the clothing, but in what was still a fairly short time, she was in her normal school clothes, and stumbling towards the window. "I gotta go…"

"Videl, sweetie…" Hannah began, but Videl waved a hand to silence her.

"I'll…tell you…later…" the teen said slowly and deliberately. It seemed that she was weighing each word out in her mind before letting it come out of her mouth, like a merchant would weigh out grain before giving it to his customer. But she walked to the window and took to the air. Apparently, she no longer cared about being seen by normal people who might panic.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The fly to the mountains took ten eternities, but finally, Videl touched down in a little clearing. In this little clearing stood a cozy little house. This house was her destination.

Having regained her abilities of free movement, she ran up to the house and began pounding on the door. Yes, it was still an ungodly hour by most standards, but she knew that ChiChi was usually up early, so the older woman was probably already awake.

Sure enough, after about fifteen seconds of beating relentlessly on the front door of the Son residence, it opened, and the matron of the household stepped out. She started to smile, but the grin quickly faded when she saw the look on Videl's face. "Videl, what's—"

"Where's Gohan?" Videl demanded. "I need to talk to Gohan. Now."

"He's…getting dressed…" Chichi looked flustered, probably one of the few times in her life she had felt that way. "Just a minute…I'll get him…" She disappeard into the house.

A moment later, Gohan appeared, tying the red belt on his standard blue-purple gi. "Hey, Videl. Getting an early start."

"You. Me. Talk. NOW!" she said shortly, turning and walking out into the front yard.

Gohan blinked a few times, then shrugged and followed her, closing the door behind him. When he got about two feet away from her, he asked, "Didn't the trial start today?"

"It was supposed to," she said angrily. "But it's not anymore."

"What do you mean, it's not anymore?" he asked, confused.

"There isn't going to be a trial anymore."

"What?!? Why not?!?"

"Because the sonofabitch decided it would be easier to just hang himself in his goddamn cell than sit in a courtroom and face what he did!" she raged. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. "He killed himself. Hung himself with his goddamn bedsheets."

Gohan was stunned, and didn't say anything for a long moment.

But Videl wasn't done. "He's not going to pay for what he did to me and that other woman and her family and my family and everybody! He got off scot-free! It's not fair. It's not fair!" By now she had tears in her eyes, tears she refused to shed.

Sizing up the situation, he took a tentative step towards her. When she didn't move away, he took that as a good sign, and took another. "No. It's not fair. Nothing's fair, Videl."

"Oh god, this is all my fault…" she said in a rush, turning and burying her face in his shoulder. "It's all my goddamn fault."

"No!" he yelled suddenly, grabbing both her shoulders and pushing her back far enough that he could look her in the eye. She looked stunned at his outburst, and almost a little frightened. "None of this is your fault! I told you that before, and I'll keep telling you that until you believe it. Do you know why I'm going to keep telling you that? Because it's the goddamn truth. Videl. It's the truth." She remained silent, and dropped her eyes, so he continued. "Videl, listen to me. Life isn't fair. You got a really bad deal here. Nobody is going to argue that point. But you know what? You survived, and right now, that's what matters the most. You're alive, you're safe, and you're going to be all right."

"I think I already asked this, but what did I do to deserve a friend like you?" she asked softly, still looking down at his feet.

"Must have been something really good,"Gohan replied. "But let me ask you a question. What did I do to deserve a friend like you?"

"Something terrible, I'm sure," Videl actually teased back. "But he's dead now, and he's not going to pay for a goddamn thing!"

"Don't be so sure about that," Gohan smiled knowingly. "I happen to know a thing or two about how things work in Otherworld. When that guy goes through the check-in station and meets up with King Yemma, we'll see exactly what kind of penalty he gets for what he did."

Videl pondered this for a minute, then nodded. "I hope he ends up in Hell."

"You shouldn't think like that," he admonished her gently. "But just for the record, I'm pretty sure that's exactly where he'll be going."

"Good," she said fiercely, then hugged him again.

"So…you never told me exactly why you were so afraid of me," Gohan said after a minute. It was a dangerous question, but he needed to know, and chances were that she needed to tell him.

There was a long moment of silence before she replied. "I…I knew you would never hurt me, Gohan," she said into his shoulder. "But…oh gods, I don't know why. But there were nightmares where I'd see two faces, and one would be yours. It scared me to death."

"You thought I might hurt you?" he asked softly.

"No…yes…I don't know…" she all but sobbed, sounding absolutely miserable.

"Hey, it's okay," he said quickly. "You don't have to know. Not today, not tomorrow, maybe not ever, who knows? But Videl…you know I will never, _ever_ hurt you. _Ever._ And don't ever think otherwise."

She sighed. "I guess it's true what they say. Closure really is a myth."

"No, it's not," Gohan shook his head. "I should know. It's real, but it's hard to get. Sometimes it just takes a little time to find it." Suddenly he stopped and sniffed the air. "And unless my nose is deceiving me, it smells like Mom is making some kind of food items for breakfast." He stepped back and bowed, offering her his arm in a ridiculous fashion, like something out of a very old movie. "Wouldst thou liketh to accompany me? I daresay perhaps we might discusseth this further…eth?"

She had to at least smile at the silliness of it all. He was trying to cheer her up, and she appreciated the effort. Feeling a little foolish, she sketched out something that sort of resembled a curtsey. "Why, yes, dear sir. I would loveth to." She took his arm, and they walked towards the house.

As they strolled, Videl let her head rest on Gohan's shoulder. It felt right. For the first time in ever so long, everything just felt _right_.

If Gohan was to be believed, then there really was closure.

And maybe she hadn't found it just yet.

But to Videl, that moment felt like a very good start.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

__

You're still you

After all, you're still you

AN: Well. That's it. We're done. Think what you will of my ending. I actually had an idea for one more chapter, but I really wasn't sure if I wanted to write it or not, so I just didn't. If you really really really really want it, I could probably write it, but it wouldn't be until sometime next week, since I'm going out of town all weekend for a show choir trip.

And remember what I said about anonymous flamers. I don't listen. I DO listen to constructive criticism. And I might have to keep Hannah around for a while in other fics. A few people said they liked her. She's a fun old lady!

But fear not, friends, for now "Faith" becomes my priority fic. Translation: I'm actually gonna finish the thing! And when that story is complete, I have another little notion I've been stirring up for a while. Actually, I have three chapters typed already, and two more written out, waiting to be typed ^-^ I hope you'll visit my little corner of ff.net again sometime. Buh-bye!


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